on the road

anatomy of animation

2012-01-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

nice breakdown!

thanks carman

pengunaan kata animasi atau animator

2012-01-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

Dari pengalaman beberapa minggu terakhir ini , I just realized kalo kata animasi atau animator itu di gunakan terlalu luas di Indonesia.

Sepertinya, segala macam yang mengunakan 3D atau drawing, atau yang bersangkutan dengan animasi di jadikan satu dalam kata " animasi" dan orangnya di panggil "animator"

that's wrong!!

animator itu orang yang mengerakan ato meng-animate... dan di dalam animation production itu ada banyak specialistnya.. seperti modeler, lighter, fx artist, rigger, art director, story board-er, etc...

It's always confusing untuk jawab pertanyaan tentang animasi tapi ternyata pertanyaan tersebut tentang 3D in general..

I really hope one day , hal hal seperti ini gonna be common knowledge di Indonesia.

ps:.. ini bukan complain lho ... cuma pengen share :)

what a week!

2011-12-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

where should i start...

first my patagonia trip was cancelled.. due to Argentina visa problem.. ( now.. don't get me started on that.. because of them , the trip that i had plan for years completely trashed )
so That was a stressful week to deal with cancellation and all..
THEN , an article about me was published in one of online news.. that news went completely viral . Since then i had multiple magazine, newspaper and also tv news.
crazy... never thought that will ever happened..

so this is what started everything

VOA

voa

and the rest

Here are some of them :

viva news

jakarta globe

kompasiana

anak nonton

well.. it has been a great experience and i'm looking forward for holiday :D

patagonia - planning

2011-12-06T02:56:00.000-08:00

T - 8 days until Patagonia. Another end of the year trip, a ritual that I've been doing the last couple years.
The last year and a half has been pretty interesting. Moving to NZ, finishing my first movie , first big injuries, first time being under the knife, being handicap for the whole year ( which was very hard ), up and down on relationship ( this one probably a usual thing). But I'm back on the right path now.

and patagonia will be he first big trip to mark all the good things ahead.

The trip is somewhat planned with room to change some plans ( i hope...). Nervous,... of course.. especially since i haven't received my argentina visa yet ( don't even get me started on this issues.. pretty upset at this point )

Did my test pack tonight, It should be manageable, probably around 12-15kg.
Food... I might go a bit overboard with this thing..
Spanish... uhmm.. yeah .. not really..

The andventure of tintin

2011-11-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

hasn't post anything for awhile.. life has been busy.. and good.. :)

so finally my first movie was out in europe and will be out at the states in december

my first credit http://www.eofftv.com/eofftv/index.php5?title=Adventures_of_Tintin,_The_%282011%29

woot woot

OH and I finalled the most shot in this movie ( for animation ) HA!

do I

2011-05-22T21:45:00.001-07:00

dare to dream ?

knee surgery...... checked... 8 months to go .. then i'll be back up on my feet again .
phiuh ...

Mount Lowry, mushroom and dead possum....

2011-04-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

My attempt to have a quiet "hike/exercise" with kali this last weekend ( including avoiding mud, hunting dog and motorbike in the trail ) wasn't quite successful .
After sleeping in , off we went to Eastbourne to try to find Mount Lowry.

The first hour went really good.. Walked along a very well maintained trail.. met a border collie.. and saw a LOT of different mushrooms along the trail..

Passed Mount Lowry lookout sign.... the highest point shouldn't be too far.. woohoo...

and then.........
hmm.. this doesn't feel like a trail anymore.. for some reason I was following this pink sign.... SHIT... those are possum trap sign...
i looked up .. saw kali sniffing some trap with dead possum hanging above her...

now... this was the moment.. when i SQUEALED like a little girl ( imagine a high pitch aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ) and called Kali back to me right away .. to my surprise.. she didn't even realized the possum..( i'm starting to question her ability to smell or see at this point ) ..

Worried that kali would eat some of the poison...we quickly went back to the trail and NOW I was starting to see a couple more trap.. it was like a land mine..arrrggghhh.. I decided time to go home.. just in case if she's acting weird...

back to the car.. it was quite a relief..

SO.. i understand that the poison (1080) that NZ's goverment decided to spread ALL over new zealand is to protect kiwis and other endangered birds.. but wait... who brought them to new zealand in the first place? .. interesting................

as much as i care about the kiwi (even though i haven't seen one.. ) I am sure always gonna be worry every time I take Kali to the woods... and THAT isn't a pleasant feeling.. especially after seeing what I saw the other day...

rant of the day finished....

where is mount Titi????

2011-04-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

That was my thought for the last 10 minutes after circling around the "summit", trying to find the actual point.

The problem with mountain in North Island is that it's often only a part of a trail ( it's not an actual peak) and because it's mostly relatively short ( lower than 1300m), it's often covered with bushes... Makes it REALLY hard to find the exact point..

Before I got to that point ( where i was swearing and being confused )..
Back in the main trail... My GPS showed that i was already over the highest point.. so i thought.. fuck it .. i'm gonna go thru this bushes all the way to the top .. so there I was.. navigating through thick bushes( with kali's disapproval look) .. My only clue of where the top is the little triangle that's showing in my reliable garmin 60csx.. that once again proves to be a must have in NZ's bush...

Once that marker crossed that little triangle . i called it a day.. I'm still not sure if that's the actual point.. but at that moment.. I don't think it's worth to battle it.. and I can see Kali's happy to get out of the bushes that was higher than her body..

Off we went.. tried to find our way down ( hoping to meet up with the main trail at some point... ), but the bush just got thicker and harder to navigate.. a LOT of URRGGHH.. hmmmm... fuck.... ARRGGGHH at this point..
I felt sorry for all the spider web that i had to break during this trips...

eventually I found the main trail ..me and kali started our 2 hours speed walk back to the car..
With her crashing on the drive back to Wellington, We ended the trip in smile..

indocg interview

2011-01-31T11:31:00.000-08:00

also updated my website www.triyani.com

ps: thanks ftdesign for the opportunity :)

red rock attempt no#2

2011-01-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

11.20am - car park.

This time i was sorta more ready than before ( map dowloaded in my gps).. and having Kali with me definitely add to my confidence.We were doing it in reverse this time .. that's the plan at least.. couple hundred feet from the trailhead - turned sharp to the right and started climbing up .. It brought me back to my climb in kaikoura.. it was a steep slope with loose scree... but this time.. there aren't that many plants to hold on to . and I only have one knee that's fully functioning.

After couple minutes.. the gully got smaller and had bigger rocks.. It brought uneasy feeling .. those rocks come from somewhere and most likely it's from above... and the tight gully means not much place to run...

I looked at my gps and this part of the track shouldn't last long.. ( it was called " elevator shaft "... ) . Kept going for another half an hour and reached the ridge.. ONE DOWN!! The track has a lot more vegetation now.. but not the pleasant one . ---> SHARP!!

At some point the trail dissapeared.. and these sharp plants are covering it. Maybe it won't be for too long ... WRONG! It just kept going and can't see the trail anymore.. I had to carry kali coz it would've been to painful for her to walk thru this.. and I kept saying " aw.. aw.. aw... aw.. dammit! "

Me and Kali had a moment here. I put her down in a somewhat empty area.. and we looked at each other.. " let's get the fuck out of here" OH this part of trail called cliff edge effect .. go figure...

We made our way down again.. Even though that's not the ideal choice considering my knee.. But I rather go thru that than being poke by sharp plants for god knows how long. Kali charged ahead.. where at some part i had to slide on my butt.. to avoid getting more injured that i already am . Down at the coast.. flat ground.. phew!! Kali had fun with the clear sea water and jumped right in .

Decided to kept walking toward where I started on my first trial . I figured.. we can at least get up the ridge..

Over there this one lady told us that we could just take tip track that will come out on Happy valley road and walk to the car park.. It'll be somewhat a loop..

Looked at my watch and hmmm.. sounds good.. Here we go ..

we walked along the ridge.. pretty view.. not too bad of a wind.. and 2 hours later.. we were back at the happy valley road.. To my surprise.. the carpark actually couple km away.. sigh..

Got back at 4pm .. drove back home for some chill time .. And as I wrote this.. Kali was sleeping next to me peacefully ..

2010-12-23T22:57:00.001-08:00

This time i didn't go too far north

I knew where I was going.. but I didn't know what I was gonna find..

30 minutes from Levin ...

7km To West ..checked in at himutangi holiday park .

No one's around.. and the place is super clean …

i left my car there and started walking to the beach ..

huge one …

it's sunny but windy ..

i ate my ice cream..

then I laid down and rest…

peace..

sun didn't set out till 9pm ..

And I had couple hours to kill …. so I sit outside … reading Annapurna again..

I didn't hear other voices.. other than the voice of the ocean ..

It was nice

it's 10 pm .. i'm sitting here .. in a small room with 2 twin beds..

bundled in my sleeping bag.. watching chick flicks with puffy eyes..

why ?

because I'm a girl … and once in a while .. i like to act like one.

I drank the wine straight out of the bottle.. can't find cup or glass…

it was the tiniest wine bottle I found but I still can finished it..

At this point of my life.. I should just accept the face that I AM not a drinker

Tomorrow will be the last time I can visit Kali.. until I'm picking her up on Jan 2nd..

Hang on there.. this will be over soon

levin-shannon-palmerston north

2010-12-19T02:05:00.000-08:00

after spending time with kali ( and found out that her teeth was crooked coz she bit thru something :( )

Decided to drive north to Palmerston North… 45 min later.. went straight to the information center.. to figure out where i was gonna stay that night..

got some lunch.. and went to a mall to get some towel… first mall i've ever visited here in new zealand ( been here for 5 months now).. i found it to be impressive.

note to self:

make sure camera battery is actually inside the camera…. not stuck in the charger back at the hotel!!!!!

well , iphone camera it is …

it started raining when i was walking around looking for internet.. failed..

so i went back to the hotel and found out that the wind farm is only 15 min away..

off i went..

well the problem was… the receptionist forgot to tell me that there are TWO wind farm lookout.. So there i was.. standing at a "viewing platform" looking at a sport field….. "well that's not what i was hoping for"

So i kept driving…

another highlight of the day: waited for a possum to cross the street..

now if only i got a pics of that

it was good thing i decided to sleep in.. although i was still out the door by 7am instead of 5.30..

the wind farm didn't open till 8am.. So even after all the wrong turn ( about 10km of them )

detour to a river.. and taking pictures of cows ( i found out that they like to stare... creepy..)

I still had couple minutes to spare..

the view from that viewing platform are pretty nice.. lots of wind turbine.. and green hills.. no one's there.. and no cars around.. except one asshole that thinks that racing thru the hill taking both lanes was a good idea .

stopped at Shannon.. sit by the window.. reading newspaper.. taking my sweet ass time to eat my breakfast was nice..

one thought cross my mind.. that i have been travelling alone most of the time since i moved here.. and honestly i don't mind it at all ... freedom.. not having to feel bad.. i can do what i want.. go where i want.. change plans as i please.. spend as little as i want..

and just taking everything around me in ..

then i visited kali again .. well .. i would rather travel with her.. coz i know she won't complain..

she'll just stare and wiggle her butt. :)

lighthouse - pencarrow head - castle point

2010-12-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

been to lighthouses since i got injured.

every beginning has an end...
that's one way to see it
but then
every ending has another beginning :)\
it's a cycle.. of life.

first plant to survive so far

bad news and good news

2010-12-05T15:18:00.000-08:00

so it's not looking very good...

it seems like i'm gonna have an ACL replacement surgery on january if everything works out with ACC..

no elbrus for me this year...

sucks....
in a good note... my dog's here

wishing

2010-11-17T01:13:00.001-08:00

when you can't see where you're going.. it's easier to fill the void with wishful imagination

window

2010-11-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

i look out the window
and all i want is to explore....

hawkes bay

2010-11-13T22:54:00.000-08:00

drove up north.. not really sure where I was going ... played it by ear..
first stop.. Waipukurau .. There's a A&P ( agricultural and Pastoral ) show happening that day..
For $10, I got to see a sheep sheering competition ( they're very serious about it too ) , sheep herding competition ( lots and lots of Border coolie makes rini happy ), lawn mower race... ( didn't wait for this one thou ) , and an extra $4 got me a colorful shaved ice..

next stop.. hasting for late lunch.. this town was dead.. barely anyone outside.. and only found couple restaurant that opened at 2pm on Saturday....
Then to Napier.. ocean.. warm beach.. breeze... walked along the beach

drove back down south.. looking for a place to sleep... Stayed Te Awanga Holiday park. Right by the beach.. The manager said they don't have any cabin available..only campsite.. Sweet.. pitched my tent..forgot the peg again! habit from california.. roped it to a picnic table ...it's 4.45pm... still have 15 min to hit one of the winery around... tasted couple wines and got a bottle of pinot gris..

Te Awanga - Hawkes bay , New zealand from rini sugianto on Vimeo.

Back to the beach.. listening to the ocean till sun went down ...
Bundled inside the sleeping bag.. it was so warm , didn't even need to close the tent door all the way ..

7 am... hot shower.. back to napier for some breakfast.. and head home...
time well spent..

Hello strangers

2010-11-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hello strangers

It has been nice to meet you all.
Thank you for walking along side me
On the unmarked route, along the river and on the mountain.
Sharing moments, food and quiet time.
For giving me hand when I need to.
Pushing boundaries and comfort zones.
I dont need you to like me
But thank you For Not complaining
Or annoyed of who I am.

If our paths meet again
Another time another place
we 'll share stories
Or maybe a cup of tea

Or even just exchange a"hello strangers"

Mt. Surveyor- somewhere between Manukau and Te Ao Whekere..a wake up call and a bum

2010-10-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

this will be a long post

Missed the ferry on Thursday night.. Had to pay $60 extra to get in to the next one... Alex the trip leader was late too. Next ferry at 8pm. Picton at 11 pm.

Another 2 hours-ish to kaikoura and re-group with the rest of the crew.Drove in Puhi puhi river road... couldn't find the rest of the group.. turned around and slept in the van for the night.
Found them at a sweet little camp site by the road. we must've missed it last night

Gathered our stuff and started packing after breakfast.. Dropped the other car where we supposed to get out on sunday. Drove back to Jordan River
10 am ... started walking up Jordan stream ... 4 hours in .. waterfall.. no way thru...here we go ... up the scree slope...
loose rocks... climbed up... using plants to hold.. all our hand was scratch and bleeds..

"ROCK" i was in the back of the line.. a foolish things to do .. but it was too late..
they were coming toward me and alex.. "head's down! he yelled..
My face must've been full of horror when I looked up ... Covered my head with my hands.. wishing that it would missed me somehow.. one hit top of my backpack.. and big one hit my thigh..Aaarrrggghh.. alex hold my legs.. stopping me from sliding..fucking hell that hurt.. waiting for the pain to go away.. it did after a while.. and we continued upward .. it was a wake up call..

kept going.. 7 hours in... found a somewhat flat and safe ground.. camped out for the night.. warm meal and hot drink boost up my moral... I was still somewhat shaking... At this point.. I know i was the weakest link.. the slowest and by far the inexperienced.. The burden for the group. suck balls....Hate to be in the position.

morning came.. beautiful sunrise.. clouds over the valley and the ocean.. 7 am.. up climbing .. ridge line... amazing view... snow covered mountain.. moral booster.. this is why i like doing this ...the weather was holding up .. blue sky .. not too much wind... wouldn't know what might happen if the weather turned bad... don't want to know..

every loose footing was a reminder to kick my crampons harder...
karl off in the front.. breaking trail and setting up foot step for me... made my life so much easier.. thank you!

12 hours on the go.. beautiful view.. good snow.. some parts of them were a lot steeper than what i was used to... but alex and everyone else was watching over me.. it was a great team..can't ask for more and I beat my self up again to be the burden . around 3pm.. reached surveyor peak.. the highest peak on this trip .. lunch there... karl melted some snow.. my water was out 2 hours into the hike that day.. my mouth was dry.. i put some water in the bottle for it to melt..slow process...

Camp in the saddle just below surveyor peak.. somewhat flat.. dig the platform.. built a little wall around the platform.. and set up camp... 360 view was amazing.. unbeatable.. we got both sunset.. and sunrise .. amazing..
......couscous day 2 ......

dreading going down.. nothing more scary than that..ugh. knowing that I have to face the same loose scree again after we get off the snow... well.. add some rock traverse there... alex grabbed my hand and said.. let's do this the proper way...
then we started went facing down and walked on our crampon.. my whole body was telling me to fuck off .. everything they knew about balance got thrown out of the window.. i mumbled a protest... but glad that he forced me to do it..

snow gone .. here comes the rock .. alex disappeared..finding route ..sweet ass, he said.. then asked for my pack... confused... but i gave him my pack ... grabbed my hand, we came around the corner.. i didn't realized it until i started traversing the rock wall.. and saw quite a big drops under me..... that's why you took my pack ... if i can't even carry my own pack.. i don't belong here... it hurts.... BAH

4 hours of scrambling on the ridge and scree slope down.. dropped 2000 m down.... reached the river...

but it wasn't over.. still had to walk 5 hours along the hapuku river to the car .. river crossing time..

missed the ferry again.... checked in to backpacker.. woke up at 5.15am.. walked to the terminal... no ferry shit!!... won't come till 10...double shit ball!! slept at the bench outside the terminal.. being a bum for once...
6 am... heard a ferry came.. i looked over.. it was blue bridge.. gathered my stuff.. walked around trying to find where the terminal is... nz isn't very great on giving sign and direction.. finally a bus driver showed me the way..
... bought a ticket... and back to reality...
i'm glad i pushed over my boundaries .. i'm glad i stepped out side my comfort zone.. i made mistakes along the way.. a LOT of them.. mistakes that could be fatal...

There are many ways to see this experience... one way to look at it.. and the way I want to look at it...
I'm alive.. beat and battered.. but sound and well in the same time... learn and move on... time doesn't stop moving ..

great inspiration

2010-10-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

jimmy chin

Mt. Kapakapanui 1100 m_North Island

2010-09-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

I was hiking for 8 hours with a wet boot and socks..
Didn't expect there're gonna be so many river to crossed
Note to self : gaiter didn't work for river crossing..
Logic of course.. If only my brain was functioning a little better.
Also tried to take off the shoes to cross.. although i know it wasn't a good idea..
Then after the third river.. I said fuck it.. just crossed it with my shoes on.

The weather turned out to be great.. Only a little bit of wind but it was sunny thru out.. No rain for once.
The trees just got more dense the higher we went up.

weird...

Keep thinking... so green... and damp..
But pretty .. and quiet.. didn't see many people hike out this area.
After 4 hours.. finally got to the hut.. It was more of a small shack.. with couple wood bunk beds.. but good enough for shelter I guess...
Ate an energy bar and kept going.. Just wanted to get to the summit and see the view from there.

Another hour to the summit through some very very muddy section ...
It only has one purpose.. sucking your shoes deeper.. hold it tight and tried to get it off your feet..
Each step was a puzzle.. tried to figure out which part that wasn't deep .
View from the summit was pretty.. Kapiti island on one side and deep into Tararua National Park on the other side..

The going down was excruciating.. It was 1000 m (3200 feet ) in less than 3,5 miles..
Land of the giant ...... there are steps to make the decent easier.. but the drop was meant for a 6 feet person ...

This time I was glad to cross the river with my boots... cleaned off the mud.. and cool off my feet.

Got to the car .. and off to have a good dinner. One more new place in the book .. and plenty more to go .

purpose

2010-09-22T00:23:00.001-07:00

most of the time i am not sure what to call it

hiking.. mountaineering.. alpine..climbing.. who knows..
everything along that line makes me focus..
it pumps blood in my vein ..
i smile.. i shake my head..
i cringe .. i yell YEAAHH ( most of the time very quietly )

it makes me having a goal
... a purpose
it makes me giddy.. it makes me frustrated ..
it makes me angry and wants to yell FUCK THAT!!

it changed my life .. and hopefully my future
it becomes a dream
it becomes a lifestyle
now i am a noob
who's hoping to keep going
and not gonna die trying

Nerd mode on

2010-09-11T20:53:00.001-07:00

You know it's awesome when you walk around town and Alan lee was walking in front of you

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

from a good friend

2010-08-31T23:52:00.001-07:00

http://smruthy.blogspot.com/2006/05/pablo-neruda-tonight-i-can-write.html

the road not taken

2010-08-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. - robert frost

first hike in new zealand

2010-08-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

it's been raining for almost 2 days and I got tired of waiting for it to stop . Packed up my backpack and drove out.

2pm.. Finally at the parking lot. Sat in the car for a minute... debating if I should go out or not.. It's still raining and didn't seem like it was gonna stop anytime soon . Also...
There's a helicopter that's circling around the area .
" not a good sign ..."
Put on my hardshell and started walking .. I had a vague memory of which trail I wanted to try .. No topo map. Stupid... My gps will be my savior to lead me back if I get lost.

Couldn't find the trailhead that I wanted.. Kept walking around the coast.. There's another one close to sinclair Head.... I hope.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw 4 cars heading toward me. The first one stopped and asked me where I was heading. I said Sinclair Head and maybe up the ridge from there. He said " Not a good time , they've been looking for someone who was lost 2 days ago, we are picking up the Rescue team now "
"shit.. "I thought.. He offered me a ride... I said thank you and told him that I would just walk ..

At the trailhead... Another debate.. Should i go up .. it's 2.45pm ... still raining.. and I have no food...
I looked around and thought.." i'll just go up the ridge"... It was a steep hike to the ridge.. The view was worth it . The coastal looks amazing.. Kept thinking it would've been better if it's not raining! By that time my jacket and pants were soaking wet.They did a good job keeping me dry.

I decided to keep walking.. Got to the first intersection .. Didn't recognized the track name. Tip Track.. HA .. Stay to the right.. It will lead me to the parking lot... I hope.. I figured, I can always track back .

4.15pm .. another intersection... more un-recognized track.. Went down and checked out the area a little bit. Decided to go back up and look around from there.. The valley looks dark... Maybe this is the spooky gully thta was in the map.... maybe...

It's getting dark.. Only have an hour till it's completely dark .. Found a trail that might lead to the parking lot.. but it looked like it will go around deeper away from the ocean..

Time to re-track... The rain's getting harder.. and It felt like it's getting darker fast.... Half running back.. downhil.. and UP again .. BAH.. don't want to still at the ridge when it's dark ..

5pm.. got back down to the coast... and another 30 min to my car... Tossed everything in the trunk .. and head back.. Good adventure for a day ..

Next time.. better not making the same amateur mistakes...Don't think New Zealand weather will permit that such thing.

on the way to weta

2010-08-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

it's raining.. so it's all gloomy and all

first time driving to work

little thing here and there that amused me here

2010-08-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

in wellington..

- people jaywalk a lot ( like a lot a lot .. and they do it with great confident )
- you are a tourist if you use an umbrella ( in certain days... the rain is horizontal .. yeah.. the wind is THAT strong )
- when you see sun.. yeah that doesn't last long.. maybe for a day or two ..

- a lot of people running/ jogging/ biking.. even in the rain .. very impressive
- For some houses up in the hill... they have elevator just for the house.. ( it's an outside elevator .. i'll see if i can snap some pictures next time )
- weta ... is HUGE here.. . they even has a street name after weta cave... impressive..

maryln _ the housing coordinator with district 9 gun at Weta Cave... she is sooo nice and bubbly and very helpful. Love her

to be continued .....

the road to wellington

2010-08-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

the first part of the flight was alright. The flight wasn't full so i took up 2 seats just for me. If it wasn't because of a baby that cried for 13 hours non stop, and a cranky stewardess, it would've been a perfect flight.

I thought i would be super sad. But I think I had plenty of time to prepare for this date.
The second part of the flight... That's a different story...

I had to wait pretty long time in the custom line, because apparently they have to check hiking gear and make sure it's clean enough to enter. And I happened to bring a full luggage of hiking gear. I got hold up till 10.am while i have another flight at 10.30 am.. I ended up having to run with my 200lb luggage from international terminal to domestic terminal ( thru streets and all ) , only to know that they closed the gate already..All I can think of is that " there it goes, the adventure starts "

Wellington is pretty .. and looks like a cool town . I got a chance to walk around a little bit.

I had some take outs and sit by the harbor. very peaceful

skate park across from the hotel

dinner with franck

2010-05-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Cooking night with franck .

Special guest :Leo as our judge :D

Menu :
- Phyllo filled with beef, tempeh and feta cheese
- Zuchinni soup with bell pepper mousse ( the mouse was failed to perform :P) topped with parmesan chips

desert : Apple wrapped in phyllo

red rock . nevada

2010-05-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

some bouldering pics from red rock .nevada

plan ahead

2010-05-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

sometimes .. well ... a lot of time when I take pictures... I don't put a lot of thought into it.

So , now I'm trying different approach .
I tried to pay more attention to the object and also try to plan ahead. Imagining what's the final image will be.

new kitchen and vegetables stock

2010-05-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

using the kitchen for the first time ...and also first trial to make my own vegetable stock .
Quite fun actually .:D

kali :D

2010-04-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

vote vote

http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/photocontest/dogs/10/04/08/kali

post travelling

2010-02-07T12:16:00.001-08:00

is always hard to get back to reality

thank you for the wishes and interesting day

2010-01-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

The plan was to passed today with no event ..
.. not happening..

first my flight got delayed.. which i didn't mind actually .. wireless and internet was my good friend.

And it was snowing hard in beijing.. so the trip to great wall was cancelled since all the highway was blocked..

Settled with Tiananmen Square ..

The bus dropped me in the corner of the old Railway Station that turned into a shop. I walked inside the square.. passed security.. and walked ahead of the group, just in case if i took longer to take some pics.. It was still snowing hard and started to get dark so I headed back early to the bus..

Passed the crosswalk.. and NO bus... bad sign... looked back.. no one.. and the security started to locked the gate to the square... apparently the bus had moved.. and no one bothered to tell me ..
i waited 45 min or so .. on the street .. under snow shower.. till they got back to me ...

To close the day .. i met with 2 of my old friend from San Francisco.. in Beijing.. ( similar thing happened last year in nepal )
It was good to see familar face.. and catched up .. saw some weird food... but has no guts to try .. ate the famous peking duck .. back to editing photos and packing.. ready to go back to a warmer weather where i don't have to look like michelin dude..

some pics at kili

2010-01-02T06:51:00.001-08:00

:) and more to come

still in china..

2010-01-02T05:55:00.001-08:00

no access to facebook ( china banned facebook .. so does you tube and all other cool sites )
spent new year -bday in -30F temprature

but thanks for bday wishes :)

hello from the anow and ice city Harbin

sneak peak from moshi

2009-12-24T12:36:00.000-08:00

our first view of kili from springland Hotel , moshi

stuck in qatar airport for 5 hours

2009-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

well finally left tanzania..
first stop was dar es sallam airport.. 5 hours layover. the plane from kilimanjaro to dar es sallam was tiny.. and only 10 of us there.
i felt like an alien in the airport. everyone stared..
now waiting for another flight to beijing..spent xmas day in the flight . fun...

quick recap

2009-12-22T02:34:00.000-08:00

so . we both made it .
we got to barafu camp which is 15.000 feet up . the highest camp we've been so far. From that point, the view of kili is very close. We got to camp pretty early arond 12 pm and just chill. getting ready for summit night.

At 11 pm, woke up and got ready. put all our layer on ( which made us look like a michelin dude ), drank some tea and cookies ( i wish we had more food )
on the mountain we just saw lots of headlight. it's a very surreal feeling.

we got lucky with the weather. the wind died down around 10 pm, left us just had to deal with the cold.

started hiking, with slow pace, The air is harder to breath , I think it's combination of cold air and altitude. My nose already decided not to let me breath thru couple days earlier,

it's a bit tricky to move around in the line AND in the dark, we made it up kinda in the head of the line which allow us not to get stuck behind people.

it took 7 hours to get to the summit. it was very steep .. 4000 feet up in 2, 3 miles if i'm not mistaken. me and carman just moved very very slowy, trying not to be out of breath. we got to stella point just right when the sun started rising. very very very pretty and amazing view of the glacier.

but there's still 1 more hour to go to the actual higest point ( uhuru peak )
got there at 7 am . Took some photo with big smile in our face. and the we got rushed down ..

going down was hell ... can't count how many times we stumble and fall.. i was super super super hungry .....

all in all ... it was great experience.... great times.

Multimedia message

2009-12-19T02:06:00.000-08:00

At karanga camp. Moving to barafu camp tommorow and start going for summit tommorow night. All is well. Wish us luck.

day 2 - moshi

2009-12-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

met up with our guides yesterday , nicholas. And did our gear check . there are some stuff that's different but i think most of the part we hit it pretty good. Some stuff that are mainly different i think that we brought a lot of layers :D ( which is good ) and ended up has to bring 3 different kind of gloves ( which we happened to bring also ) and less socks . LOL .. be ready for stinkiness...

it was quite an experience to do gear check and all .

The bird were very eager to woke me up this morning so i ended up waking up pretty early again . It turned out a great idea. we managed to see kilimanjaro for the time , somehow the clouds cleared up . THAT was my first 'holy shit , it's huge ' moment.

it IS huge.. and i think i got some good video of it. I was gonna post some pics.. but they didn't allowed usb here.... lame....
today gonna do lunch at the town with our guide and go for some forest walk . seeing some colombus monkey ..

might be the last day we can use internet.. gonna start the hike early tommorow

weeeeeeee... exciting

day 1 in Africa

2009-12-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

So after a long long flight , me and carman got to moshi , the little town where we gonna be for the next 2 days before our climb.
we landed around 9 pm at dec 12th, meet our driver from the hotel . Gathered around in one corner, waiting for the rest of the group that apparently stayed in same hotel too. we got our bag just fine. unfortunatelly one of the guy lost his bag along the way .

it was nice meeting up with other traveller who are suprisingly a lot of female. Most of them are going to climb also, some using different route , some the same.

the morning was beautiful , the birds outside decided i should wake up early , they sing so Loud ( which i don't mind ). carman still sleeping now, she got a hard time with mosquitos i think .

Not sure what we're gonna do today . maybe visit masai villages..

"jambo" from moshi

Leaving... First stop

2009-12-11T07:54:00.001-08:00

Seattle

...still moving

Test Pack

2009-12-06T18:10:00.001-08:00

Test Pack success!
40lb luggage.. NOW i can only hope i won't lose my bag in the plane..
please please pleaaaasseeee :)

laying out gear

2009-12-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

slowly laying out gear and put it in the same area

Just to reduce some last minute panic mode on packing .
Also the decision has been made.. "Puff" is coming with me .

Lemosho route

2009-11-29T23:33:00.000-08:00

So here's the route that me and carman will take . Lemosho route

Prob the last hike before kilimanjaro

2009-11-29T08:14:00.001-08:00

Hiking in the rain. Man , I hope we are ready

On the road

Test

2009-11-25T12:18:00.001-08:00

dante's inferno new trailer

2009-11-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

new trailer!

there're prob about 8 shots that blur did and the other shots are from in game stuff.

I have 3 shots in there . WOOT !
the images above.. this one.
and the shot where the horse stepped on the puddle
Can't wait till we can show the whole thing.

cooking and decorating

2009-10-23T14:59:00.001-07:00

is kinda like sculpting..
but in different medium

doodle

2009-09-11T18:22:00.001-07:00

love post- it and sharpie

Cottonwood meadow

2009-09-01T00:45:00.000-07:00

learning to use a vid cam .

i love being outside

Mount Whitney

2009-06-25T02:06:00.001-07:00

Didn't have time to sleep... after Wallyball game, I only manage to finished packing and rested for 2 hour.
We got the permit! I was completely still asleep while Brandon managed to get us a permit for 2 night. There were only 3 permits left after us ( tough competition but we got it!)

Parking lots were starting to fill up at whitney portal. Couple group of hiker were getting ready to start the trail. I paid attention on what they carried.. their gear... see if I was as prepared... or less prepared...

With 30 lb in my backpack , It was actually a good weight. Although I kept trying to remember if I missed anything important.

Whitney Portal to TrailCamp = 6 miles, 3640 feet elevation gain. Took our time taking picture and enjoying the hike up (...and eating peanut butter and jelly )

TrailCamp at 12000 feet was covered with snow patches and melting water stream. Consultation lake was still frozen underneath Mount McAdie.
Does people climb that ? my question everytime I saw a rugged mountain.

Seeing the famous switchback ( from many many images that i've looked over the week), I told my self, so this is the " oh shit I have to hike that" moment. It was steep....snowy.... and amazingly beautiful.

That night wind picked up and smacked our tent pretty good. My borrowed 0 degree sleeping bag kept me very warm to the edge of too warm .

" the chances to summit is pretty slim" Brandon told me in the morning. I think the thought of this is not a "going for summit" trip put me in a good state of mind.. and also made us weren't rushed to start the hike which later on I wished we would have started earlier.

On the way up, we passed many hiker coming down already . Why?
Too sketchy... not ready... no crampon... snow... Headache... altitude sickness .
Well I wasn't trying to summit anyway. Nevertheless there was a little bit of hope that maybe it wasn't too bad.

We got up to the cable section . Put on our crampon, took out ice axe .Deep breath and started moving.
Step ... anchor ... step ... anchor... it's a slow pace, but necessary. Brandon was watching me from the other side giving me instruction where to put my ice axe, and to make sure the ice axe was actually secured enought before step.
Man up ! I heard that couple time whenever I was struggling to put have a good anchor for my ice axe. Using 2 hand also helped. I definitely need to train my arms for strength .
Using Crampon gave me confident. A lot of them .
I could see brandon was worry and debating if we should try to summit or turn back at some point. Somehow I feel we can make it, but of course I didn't do the math in my head to actually count how many hours of day light we had.

Let's just go to trail crest and we recessed from there. After traversing last long snowed switchback , finally made it to Trail Crest at 1.00 pm. It was another 2, 5 mile from there to the summit and another 1500 feet up.

we'll try to make it to the summit by 3.30 pm.. we HAVE to turn back by 4.00 pm, doesn't matter where we were.

On the way up , I kept paying attention how my body reacted to altitude, and pretty happy with no sign of Altitude sickness.
12.000 feet ...checked .... 13000..... checked... 14000 .... checked.

Summit was a great feeling, Everything is lower , the view was amazing, I could see alabama hills, Mount Langley, and who knows what other peak names around it.
Us and one other girl was the last person in the summit. And after a bunch of picture taking and resting and food, time to star another 5 miles back to the camp.

Racing with the sun before it completely left the snow covered with shadow was quiet adrenalin rush. And also hiking up hill after leaving summit wasn't exactly what i want for a decent (There were part of up and down on the way from the summit to trailCrest).

Barely made it when the sun just started to leave the east side of trail crest. We past the top part of the switchback thru slussy snow.

the cable section already became icy for awhile. I can see the glimmering shinny ice section. , step .. anchor .. step... slow.. keep moving..

Took off our crampon after that section and slowly made our way to the rest of the swit

Being back at the tent, analizing what happened that day , It felt great, a sense of accomplisment, a nice surprise of summit, .... a beginning of many peak ....

trail run mugu

2009-06-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

went trail running at point mugu. i'm really liking trail run. Using this runkeeper application in my iphone.. it's pretty cool .. although it drained my battery.

BigPine Short hike

2009-06-10T17:35:00.001-07:00

couple snap shot from big pine hike 2 weeks ago

been taking pictures of food a lot

2009-06-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

more Food photos

2009-05-05T19:48:00.001-07:00

Sweet and Sour pork for lunch .
And Butter cake for dessert.

Kecak Dance

2009-05-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from my trip to Bali Last December. I took my friend to watch Kecak dance.

Description from wikipedia :

Kecak (pronounced: /'ke.tʃak/, roughly "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[1]

This group actually called Srikandi kecak. Normally Kecak dance was performed by groups of men , Srikandi kecak group is the first women kecak dancer.
Srikandi itself is a female warrior character in Hindu Epic, Mahabaratha.
To see the whole sequence

lemon parsley Gougères

2009-04-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

another experiment in the new kitchen .

changes of blog purpose

2009-04-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

In the beginning this blog was intended for animation sharing purposes.
It's been couple years and I think it's about time to add more stuff other than animation.

I'm gonna put more photography works, hiking trips , and more art of course.

Weeeee!!!!

point Mugu Scenic trail

2009-04-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

7.30 am ...
i got a text msg . A wake up call..
8.40 am
finally woke up and got ready .
It was an hour ride from marina del rey topoint mugu.

Sleeping in the car was a good decision since i wasn't driving . :D

It was pretty crowded in the trailhead. No Idea why. By 11.00 am , off we went . I didn't have much in my pack. just 4 bottle of water for added weight and a fleece.
We took scenic trail . It was a pretty good trail . Maybe i'll try to run it next time.
After 30 min of walking, .. and the last hundreds feet of small and run down trail.. it finally disappeared. So we just decided to went back down . It was getting hot anyway.

View Larger Map

Not a bad workout. but I think i could've went a little further .

PCH...view from the trail ( iphone photos .. too lazy to bring a camera )

halo wars

2009-03-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

finally ..
new stuff to post.

These are shots that I did for halo wars online.
All of them are mocap based , edited according to shot need.

I only do the animation and all other stuff is the result of all blur's talent.

:D

Copyright ©Microsoft

bear with me

2009-03-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

since i can't post any animation at this moment...

bear with me with my photos.

i just updated my website with photo page

nepal_kathmandu

2009-02-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

taking potrait picture for me is hard..
i still don't know what to shoot..

while traveling in nepal .. i met a lot of different people.. different culture and custom..
in a lot of way it made it easier and more interesting to shoot.
here's are some pictures that i took from Kathmandu .

2008 Trip _Hongkong-Nepal-Yogya-Bali

2009-01-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

There're so many things to tell and so many pictures to show.. i'm choosing the best and what reflex my trip so far.

Jan 3th - Jan 5th

leaving from LAX ... everything was ready for the trip .. i've been researching about this trip for awhile.. places to go .. food.. places to stay ... and I'm just ready to go .

after 15 hours in the plane.. and surprisingly got kicked out of Hanoi because of passport problem..They sent me back with the same flight back to Hongkong airport.. Left me pretty much no clue what I was gonna do next.

We finally decided to stay in Hongkong for that night and with help from Lonely planet guide book, Me and my friend found a little hostel for $25 a night in Causeway bay area ( wan chai) behind sogo.
we took a 40 minutes bus to the area and asked a lot of people before we finally found our hostel ..

In the morning , we walked around the area.. found some breakfast place... watching lots of people doing tai chi at victoria park .. and finally back to our first mission .. ticket to another country .

Jan 6th ..

Using Swire travel , we found ticket to go to nepal at the same day ..
I ran around for 2 hours ..getting photos for my visa.. packing..

we took bus again back to the airport.. it's 2 stories bus.. we Sat upstair.. eating our lunch while watching the street of Hongkong that seems to be always busy ..

osmosis_artShow

2008-10-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

some pic from the artshow

art show

2008-09-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

so 2 of my sculpture will be in this show :D

gnomon Gallery

Bishop pass/agassiz/east of chocolate peak

2008-09-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Couple photos from last weekend trip to bishop pass/ agassiz

The second lake we saw in the trail and took a lunch break , Long lake,we ended up taking quite a long break waiting for our friend that took a wrong trail :P

that's a marmot!!!! (<--- first time saw a marmot )

Mount Agassiz before the switchback to Bishop Pass

View from bishop Pass to where we were, the closest lake is bishop lake then spearhead lake and long lake is the furthest ones

closer look of the lakes from bishop pass. 5,5 miles from the trailhead at south lake .

Mount Agassiz from Bishop Pass

my tent!

This is where we camp , Dusy Basin at Sunrise , with my tent in it of course.

Dusy Basin couple minutes after and another trial to capture the sunrise

That's how far we went up and decided to turn back

View from where me and wes were at agassiz when we decided to go down ,the small lake was where the base are and the lake further out was bishop lake and spearhead lake.

since our mission to climb agassiz failed. We decided to take another route back , east of chocolate peak . This is ruwau lake where Wes swam .. imagine how cold that is.. and he swam to the little island in this lake.

We couldn't find the trail to get back to long Lake, we know we 're gonna pass Chocolake Lake, just didn't know where the trail is. :D

fun experience on scrambling trying to find a trail .

All and all . It was a very fun experience :)

darkelf eye reference

2008-08-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

side by side
eye reference for darkelf
as peter said " gotta tilt the head down if you want to look cool "
and eyes ladies.. don't forget the eyes..
first lesson to look sexy .

sze jones's interview

2008-08-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

sze jones's interviews

very cool stuff. she's the best for chick's modeling. she modeled the darkelf for warhammer cinematic. there're couple still and wireframe for the darkelf model too

shots at warhammer

2008-08-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

here they are

breakdown :

i animated all the characters in the shot. The dwarf, dark elf, and the squig ( the red monster ball), squig herder (the goblin) , the fire guy are keyframe . the fighting scene between soldier warrior (the blonde chick and marauder) were originally motion capture. but it's heavily edited ( as usual )
enjoy!

warhammer cinematic

2008-08-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

WOOT !!
finally it's online,

my first lead gig. ( so excited ) me and Brian Whitmire shared the position .
will post my shots soon

on this cinematic i lead 2 scene which are the part starting where the dwarf shooting the orc thru where the fire guy being stabbed by marauder (guy with the mask).
and the second scene starts where the soldier warrior's leg getting frozen all the way thru the end of cinematic

jpg magazine

2008-07-18T00:29:00.001-07:00

new photos!

2008-07-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

:) just upload some new pano from last month trip

more on yosemite

niagara fall

2008-06-23T18:54:00.001-07:00

new stufff!!!
it's actually my first project at blur about a year ago . But they just had a grand opening at niagara fall last week! which means i can post some stuff . here we go .
so we did the pre show and main show for niagara fall , where they have giant screen and a 360 degree screen. go visit there next time you're going to new york! :D

and again . i ONLY did the animation on this clip .

this second clip was from the same project. but i think the animation still needs a lot of polishing to do . :( but i figured i'll show it to show the project. so here's the NOT so great animation . :D

starting new sculpture

2008-05-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

yay time for new one..
here's the armature and the concept

concept by adam byrne

website

2008-04-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

re-design website!!!
and finally updated too.
although i posted most of it here.

webbie

quick painting

2008-04-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

this one is a bit cheesy
i did it for assignment in class
really quick painting since i'm a slacker
and the reference was from lord of the ring game box

diggin...

2008-04-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

more old art @2002

old art

2008-04-07T11:13:00.001-07:00

i was diggin around my external HD and found couple old art.
this one is an oil painting done in my color theory class . i think 2004
we had a field trip to stinson beach , ca

ex-stormfront

2008-04-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

so My ex- company Stormfront studio closed down couple days ago .
It always sad to see the company closed. and i'm more sad to see all my friend lost their job.
so if anybody heard any opening or have opening in your studio .. lemme know
thanks

new troll pic

2008-03-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

hasn't updated the troll but there's new picture! lol
the photo's courtesy of brandon riza

first pano!!! woot!!

2008-03-21T10:34:00.001-07:00

:D
the top one with fish eye lens 16mm
and the bottom with 23-235 mm lens

nose

2008-03-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

nootz!
testing a 50mm lens

Shawn Kelly's tips and tricks e-book

2008-03-17T11:37:00.001-07:00

now something animation related..

Shawn Kelly just released an EBook about tips and trick in animation. it's an awesome help for animator
you can download it from their website
http://www.animationmentor.com/

have fun!!

pressing the button

2008-03-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

so lately i've been taking picture, it helped me got my mind off work for a bit .. I. I'm gonna post a couple whenever i think there's a cool one.
This one was from a hike around Pasific Palisades couple weeks ago.

posing a sexy look

2008-03-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

this week I've been trying to animate a sexy badass girl.. It's actually harder than i thought. from these couple reference ( of course from jolie coz she's freakin hot) .I found out something thou .

if you look at her eyes... most of them she tilt her head down and have the eyes looking up till u can see a little bit of the white part of her eyes under her pupil.
I think it's pretty cool . coz i tend to adjust upper and lower lids so we don't see as much of a white part. but i guess to be sexy.. you sometimes have to strain ur eyes looking up .

anyway.. anybody has more ref? i've been lookin at sin city and couple noir movie too.

spiderwick game animation

2008-02-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

my friend's new reel from shrek 3 and spiderwick games

Okitomo

:D

troll

2008-02-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

got to work on it over the weekend. here's couple detail on the troll

troll

2008-02-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

I'm actually learning how to sculpt now.. but it's very slow progress.
here's what i got so far

here's the concept art made by Khang Le

shots for ironman's promo

2008-01-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

shots that i did for ironman's promo
notes : I ONLY did the animation on these shots. My awesome Co-workers did the rest.

Ironman's promo

2008-01-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

Woohoo!!
first project at blur that's gone public.
so excited.
We did Ironman's adventure , Ironman's adventure continues and Ironman's adventure conclude.

I'll post what i did in the project soon

project offset

2008-01-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

been forever!
long story short. I moved to Orange County to worked on Project Offset

for around 8 months.
here's one of the video that we created

me and the other animator Chris Lalli did all the animation. I did the troll animation when he got shot and walk, dragon fly, throwing goblin and go pass the gate.

After offset.. i got an opportunity to join Blur studio
it's been 7 months now and it's been a great experience.
WOOT!!

doodle

2007-03-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

doodling...

2007-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

found a cool blog.

too bad it's in spanish ( i can't understand without using translation website)

but you can see some of the video link . it has some nice video like the making of jungle book, acting video, etc.

Llopis animation blog

eragon's

2006-12-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

i figured i post some of the stuff that i did in eragon's game. not much ..

Emperor's New Groove - Kronk Linetests

2006-11-10T13:13:00.001-08:00

awesome found.
love this move..

team!

2006-10-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Present .. the team!

Offest 2006