I have a few outstanding things I want to blog about including lots of pictures from my London and Krabi trips, a book review and some thoughts on issues close to my heart.

For today, however, I just want to bring your attention to a photography project I have undertaken (for the heck of it) called Project 365. It’s nothing new to many of you who are familiar with online projects as it has been going on for years but here is a short intro for those of you not familiar with it:

The 365 project aims to collect photos documenting 1 year of your life. We want to build a picture of the little day to day things that make your life so special and unique. Everyone can take part and join in! All you need is a camera.

I don’t really have the time to upload pictures every day, so what I usually do is compile my shots (I still take them on a daily basis) on my desktop and upload them twice a month. Just last night, I uploaded the last of my January shots which you can view from my Flick site here.

I will blog about each month as I complete the uploading, and share some pictures that I haven’t already done before in my blog including this one above taken at Laila’s in Kelana Jaya. This is my friends new lounge-y restaurant/bar and that is her pretty little niece posing for me.

This shot was taken at a Vietnamese restaurant in the First World Hotel of Genting Highlands. I really like Genting and haven’t been back there in a while, so I thought this picture was apt. What’s more, I love the colours on the lanterns/lights!

The good thing about Project 365 also is that I get to share with you pictures of special occasions, including the 70th birthday (I kid, of course) of my good friend Jit Murad! Not a great shot from my iPhone, he looks like he’s conjuring some kind of magic!

7.29am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

It’s been a while since I’ve walked into a photo shop. Actually, that’s not true. I was there just about a month ago but that was to purchase some batteries. I’ve not actually developed any pictures in a long time though! I suppose with my DSLR and social media tools, I don’t really need them.

But as I look at the photos I had in my collection – which I shot above – I realised how I miss the smell of chemicals on my fingers after a picture is developed, or pasting them into photo albums, or putting them into an envelope and giving it to a friend or family member with a handwritten note on the back of it.

Well, I’d like to give you a chance to do that, thanks to my friends at Ruumz. The local social networking site has a photo printing facility which allows you to print and have those shots delivered right to your doorstep! At the site, you can also compile your shots into a Photobook or a Funbook.

Oh, remember the Most Wanted Ruumate competition I judged? It was a Ruumz project.

So here is what I have to offer you:

1,000 free photo prints (they have this great offer where you can get your photos delivered for free if you print a minimum of 40 pieces)

Four special photo Funbooks!

How to win? Well, there are a few ways you can attempt through.

• Via a blog competition – Details below. Stand to win: One Funbook and 100 prints for each of the top three winners. Two more winners will win 100 prints each.
  
• Via Twitter - Just follow me on Twitter and keep a look out for updates on details to find out how to win. Stand to win: A total of 200 prints to be given away and one Funbook.
  
• Via my Facebook fan page (okay, I’ve not told anyone about the existence of this page before ‘cos I shy but I wanted to reward those who are on it through this contest) – You can visit the page here and join. I’ll post the mechanics on there by Wednesday lastest. Stand to win: Two winners, each winning 40 prints each.

For the blog competition, here are the details:

1. Choose between 3 to 5  photos that you would like to print and put into the Funbook (you don’t actually have to print these shots – they are only for the purpose of this contest).

2. Publish these shots on your blog and explain why you chose them – e.g. if they fit a theme, if you want to give them as a gift etc.

3. Mention this competition – with a link to http://nikicheong.com/blog or the Permalink for this post.

4. You might want to credit Ruumz for the prizes (or add their link http://ruumz.com)

5. Post need to be up by midnight of Nov 6 (Friday) and winners will be announced on Nov 9 (Monday). Then, leave a comment on this post with the Permalink to your post for this contest.
   
6. Your posts need to stay up on until Nov 9 at least.

Best of luck!

Thanks to

10.59pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Ever since I jumped for joy celebrating Barack Obama’s win at the US Presidential Elections last week, I meant to jot down my thoughts on here. Work, and other commitments, as always, stood in the way. I also wanted to share some pictures of the Obama campaign’s promo material that my good friend, Kee Thai, so painstakingly stole got.

Today, as I started thinking about what else I wanted to write here, I realised that there is little that hasn’t been said. And besides, Mr. President-elect has already moved on and started working and I thought – it’s it time I moved on too?

Still, I can’t help but want to share this article with you, taken from the CNN 360 blog kinda of summing up what the week’s been like. In a way (different of course, considering I am not American, and neither do I live there), it pretty much speaks my thoughts. The headline, What a long, strange week it’s been, says everything.

This morning I found myself thinking back to the events that transpired on Tuesday, and nostalgically waxing about that historic day three years…wait a second…that was three DAYS ago. Tuesday itself could have been a lifetime. My mind is still stuck in overdrive frantically trying to sort and compute retrograded incoming data like those coin machines in which you can dump a mass amount of change and after a period of clanking a dollar amount mysteriously appears.

Having shared that link, I don’t think I have much left to say. I did want to share some pictures – none belonging to me, mind you – from Barack Obama’s official Flickr page. The pictures were taken by Obama’s official campaign photographer David Katz (including the one right at the top of this blog post). Amazing how relaxed Obama and the family look while waiting for the results to be announced. Confidence?

These are a few of my favourites (more here).

12.25pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)