BUTTERFLY CAME LATELY...

I was waiting for someone who was running a little late and getting impatient by the minute but comforting myself that everything happens for a reason... what else can one do then except wait and watch precious minutes go by. The alternative of course is to just get up and leave which I almost did.

But Mr Butterfly (or Miss Butterfly) came along and was flying around me, giving me that come hither look, challenging me and taking my attention away from boredom and seemingly saying, "Hey, look at me, I am gorgeous!"  "Show off", I muttered and ignored it. It kept coming back and I felt honoured and flattered that it thinks that I am worth getting attention from ....so I took the bait and clumsily took out my camera and shot it. As if it knew it now had my attention, Mr Butterfly perched on a cluster of yellow flowers, flapping its wings and showing off its spectacular colours!

Using my zoom lens, I took several shots, but my skills in getting the camera's mode like setting the Aperture, Shutter Speed  and ISO right is very much lacking, and so I couldn't get the desired shot.  Still, I managed to play around with the settings. These are some of my best shots and I am rather pleased with them. 

Oh well, I shall treat this as my learning process. So thank you Mr Butterfly. Yes, everything happens for a reason, you helped me learn something. 

As if saying, "it's my pleasure", it flapped its wings and circled around me and disappeared, most probably on the lookout for its next 'victim' in need of help, leaving me a little forlorn...... 

Goodbye Mr Butterfly and thank you for lesson learnt....

Cheers!!

(a repost)

In the Eyes of UNK Judge

I was invited to judge at one of the district's UNK competition

And the Winner is...

Sometimes we wonder how the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan (UNK) judges choose the UNK winner. Why sometimes those beautiful ones fail to make it to the top 15 whilst those not so beautiful even make it to the top 7. One thing for sure is that the judges would usually have a tough time because beauty is such a personal thing and as the saying goes' one man's food is another man's poison' or 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'.

Therefore, the appointment of judge for UNK competition or any beauty pageant for that matter, should be given a lot of thought. He or she should be someone known to have integrity, have some social standing in society or someone knowledgeable, experienced or involved in aesthetics beauty. And if it involved traditional costumes, then at least one judge should be knowledgeable on the tradtional costumes. The Unduk Ngadau symbolises the mythical 'Huminodun' who was supposed to possess not only beauty that anyone who gazes at her lovely counternance would be transfixed, but who was also kindhearted, blessed with wisdom beyond her years, someone with great courage and was willing to be sacrificed so as to save the starving mankind once upon a time.

This of course is quite unrealistic now but it should at least help or guide a judge when it comes to choosing a UNK winner. To know whether the UNK candidate is kindhearted or otherwise would be quite impossible to tell at short notice. That is why, the lady endowed with most pleasant counternance and physique in the eyes of a UNK judge usually wins.