The White Rabbit

My first attempt with photoshop......

Of Vintage Cameras

I finally decided to put my money on a few cameras which I had wanted to buy for so long. Previously I blamed my lack of time to seriously pursue this, and also the price for them. But I guess I have passed on from that phase.

There is a particular something which attracts me to these cameras in the first place...... the clickety clack of the mechanicals within. As soon as you press the shutter release, you can hear the precision (or maybe not so precise) mechanics click, buzz, and clack, to give you an exposure on film. Simply wonderful.......

Now for the task at hand, is to start practicing with them. :)

More pictures can be found here.

Updates.....

To those who still come to my blog, I'm still alive and kicking. The past months, work has gotten to me so much that I just did not have the time to blog.

After my schedules have stopped running me down, I started doing a serious analysis of how my life is turning out at the moment, as well as putting in more thought about what I want for the future. The only 2 things which I have been proud of, was quitting coffee in June (I was downing 6 cups a day), and seriously going to gym and putting on some weight. The third thing, is to quit smoking, which I've put down as my New Year resolution. I believe I can do it, though I've been smoking for the past 19 years (yes, I know...... its terrible, but I will prove it to the unbelievers!!)

Of Abu Dhabi and then some

This pic shows out team in Abu Dhabi, in a mini-bus, on a 1 hour long journey. Half the team anyway. This picture was taken when we were still fresh. You should have seen us at the end of the journey, and that was only the beginning of work. :)

Spotted on tissue pack.... The Matree

And so now they get creative with tissue packs......well sort of.

University Studios theme park in Singapore........ what the?!?!

Spotted this on www.straitstimes.com. The caption beside the picture actually indicates 'university Studios theme park' instead of 'Universal Studios Theme Park'. Had me for a while there.

Follow the link to see if its still there. Link

Of perserverence

I'm still reeling from the continuous days of having 2-4 hours of sleep per night, since mid-April. The unfortunate thing is, it doesn't end there. I've had 3-4 projects piled sky high since that date till now, and I'm still at the 4th one, iin Abu Dhabi.

Age never seem to be a factor until recently, when I found myself drifting off to sleep in the middle of the night, standing, while I was supposed to be looking at something. That really made me feel angry with myself. Though some may say I am perverse in thinking that, but to me, its all about responsibility.

I still do not deny, that I'm in a position which I enjoy immensely, from start to finish. I pat myself on the back, whe I think about how I made the switch from IT to events about 5 years ago. I was new ground, but I'm glad I went for it, and am better for it. As to how long i can survive in this industry, I won't know. :)

Here's a shot from my desk in Abu Dhabi, in Novotel. I was just thinking how it was laid out so nicely (or haphazardly)....

news error...

I've been trying to access http://www.channelnewasia.com the since this morning, and I haven't been able to access the site. I'm just getting re-directed to this http://www.zzeeq.com/

weird huh?

Coffee

Came across this some time ago, and I thought, I should put this up. Some of you may already have seen this, but I guess with a name like that, we should share this wonderful brand of coffee with loved ones. :)

Try googling the name to see what it really means, and what language it is in.

Succumbing to the geek

I haven't been blogging as of late, and it leaves me feeling guilty, to have felt lazy to write, update and even take photos of life around me. What matters most in this blog, are the memories I make of the life I stumble through, the people I meet, the lives I touch, the places I've been to and most of all, my thoughts. I promise myself, that this new year will be different, with more perspectives in writing, more photos in the journey of my history, and yes, more on the people in my life.

I couldn't resist buying a new PC this week. Its been months since I've been looking at different configurations of these hitherto contraptions that constantly make you feel you are behind time. My most current machine is 2 years old, and the oldest in the group (yes, I have 3 in my room, not including my gaming laptop), is considered ancient at 5++ years old. Many people have asked me why I have so many, and most times, I can only fumble up an answer, and it goes like this: " interest......" For those of you who know me, please, resist and desist from asking me this question.

Now that this new rig is in, I think I'll have to retire 1 machine, either tear it apart for the spares, or re-config it and donate it to someone who really needs it, or a relative..... The latter 2 options sound more viable, as opposed to stacking my room with more stuff. :)

Here's the specs (bear with me, I'm showing off)

AMD Phenom Triple Core 8650

XFX 750a SLi Mainboard w/ GeForce 8200 onboard 256MB, HDMI/DVI/VGA

XFX GeForce 9600GT 512MB discrete graphics accelerator

4GB Corsair DDR2

1TB Western Digital SATA HDD

There, I'm done. I think this can last me for..... another 3-4 years? When the time comes to pass, I would think I don't have a need for so many of these whirring contraptions...... I hope.

More photos here

The 'Le Pow" Enterprise

A fellow colleague of mine just announced to the office today (via msn), that she has set up a site dedicated to her pastry creations.

Most everyone in the office is encouraging her to pursue her dreams of pastry creation, and so we're all going to envelop our taste buds, at her expense.

Do visit her at: The Vanille Bean

Of exotic cars

Last week was hectic, but I survived. 3 days of traveling in a car, sleeping at 2am and waking up at 7am, took its toll on me. I was pooped the whole weekend. Here's a photo of what I was dealing with.... 

I'll upload more once I get better ones downloaded.

'Jailbreaking' iPhone's firmware

Don't be mistaken, I'm not good enough to claim to have broken iPhone's firmware, nor am I anywhere near with enough skill to do 

'Jailbreaking' just allows iPhone users to download new applications not available in the iTunes app store, and customise display attributes amongst other not so important tweaks. (like changing Singtel to AT&T or anything else)

I have to say it took quite a bit of reading to get the procedures correct, but after that, its smooth sailing!!!

Kudos to the devs!!

Photos on Flickr

Blog Woes

Just a short note to those who have been reading..... if you know how I can change the spacing of my left navigation bar, please let me know. I have no clue!!!!

Music to the ears....

Just got a new pair of V-Moda headphones (see picture). There was a lot of hype on this pair of supposingly high-fidelity headphones, and I had done quite a bit of a reading before I finally bought a pair (at reduced prices too!!!)

Conclusion? Sounds fantastic, and I believe the people who also had tried it (upon my insistence.... :p) would agree. I give it 8 stars out of 10, one of the better headphones I have encountered. It sure beats the stock headphones that came with the iPhone.... hands down.

The White Rabbit

Recently added a new companion to my desk. Her name is Lintzy (I sort of named it without thinking...). Shes a rabbit, though sometimes she's pretty confused as to whether she's a she or a he. Funny 1 liners are her specialty, along with telling me the time, the news, playing jazz radio, and insulting me.

She is Nabaztag, and she didn't come easy.....

Catch her:

Here

and Here

iPhone frenzy

The recent launch of the iPhone had set tongues wagging. The good, the bad and the ugly, all in comments in forums, about the usability, functionality, user-friendliness and even to the extent of questioning the iPhone as a credible communications device.

My take: The iPhone is for people who wants it. I believe that for people with certain requirements like enchanced functionality, keypad reliance (sms for normal phones) and loads of customisation.... the iPhone is not for you. Most, if not all people, buy the iPhone for some simple reasons:

1. They want it.
2. They love it.
3. They prefer form over function.
4. They weigh the touch functionality over everything else.
5. And last but not least, they want to make money from it by contracting to a plan, buying it for 0 - 500 dollars and selling it for SGD1400.00 :)

Simple, easy, clean and concise.

Pics here

Singapore - KL - Tanjung Jara

Tuesday's road trip started off from the Shangri'La @ 8.30am, and we reached Tanjung Jara Resort at 7pm, stopping by KL for lunch.


1 Audi RS4, 1 Subaru WRX, 2 Porsche GT3s and our big ass Ssangyong Stavic. We were lagging behind most of the time. To make matters worse, we had to repair a flat........

Our return trip back to Singapore was uneventful. The "super car" convoys had already departed way before we did, and we de-toured to Sepang race track before we came back to Singapore. The only highlight of the return trip, was that we ran into the traffic police twice..... I think its a conspiracy....

Of time

Haven't had much time to myself until lately. I signed up for gym (finally, again), made improvements to my parents' multimedia capabilities on the telly (HDD player), bought Nabaztag (a fad), increased my appetite, bought clothes online..... many things I either had no time for or simply couldn't care less to do.

Given all that, I still have a long list of things I intend to do, and I think I'll have to spread them out evenly before I overdose on self-indulgence.

More updates soon. Meanwhile, I leave an assortment of photos from the past few months' absence.

Shanghai
Birthday

The passing......

So much has happened these past months since leaving my job. I've been doing some travelling, meeting up with long lost friends (you know who you are).

So by the end of the month, I would have to actually decide on a job offer, and sort of re-start myself in this direction. It seemed to be an easy decision, but right now, I'm having 2nd and even 3rd thoughts about this whole affair. To me, its an attempt not to go somewhere where I do not belong, nor to a company which couldn't care less about my well being. I'm getting really tired of excuses.

Wish me good luck :)