-=:{L y n c h S a n c t u a r y}:=-

Blogging is dead

2009-04-14T00:03:00.001+08:00

and i dont twitter either.

so much for web 2.0. heh. im just a visual guy, i suppose.

I have been mkII!

2009-03-16T20:23:00.001+08:00

ditto!

SJN

2009-01-28T20:16:00.003+08:00

I hate to admit it, driving a new ride is ESPECIALLY satisfying. Not only is the car new and clean, the ability to carry a new plate alphabet series is an even deeper "high" than just a new piece of metal on the road.

(ok i know im weird about this, and also, I've mentioned before that I wasn't too happy or excited when i first collected my ride. Erase that for a moment)

But driving during CNY, i suddenly noticed more new-er kids on the block -- the new SJN kids. Suddenly I felt my ride was old, and no longer as fancy and clean as these ones are. Suddenly, I felt people no longer pointing to my car plate and says "oh look, another new car!"

Darn you SJN fellas. Im jealous.

Or maybe not.

With the COE set to dip in all-time lows for a good long time, and car prices still hovering like as though its still pre-recession (note: HONDA), these SJN kids might belong to a generation of cars in the future that will be the toughest to sell, and the hardest to refinance for a new car.

So in that regard, I'll continue to dance in my SJM until the SJP kids come along.

Ouch, until then. heh.

HIStory maker - first ride of my life

2009-01-12T00:00:00.001+08:00

The free 15" "racing" sports rims + bridgestone high performance tires that wasnt part of the original package

The front bumper

A tale of 2 cars. Goodbye hyundai, I'll never forget the lessons I've learnt with you

Welcome to 2009

2009-01-05T09:33:00.002+08:00

Q: Hey! What's your new year resolution!
A: My new year resolution is to stop making new year resolutions!

I have since scowl and stopped making new year resolutions for too many years I could remember. In my revelations, the answers to this questions ALWAYS (for most of the time) resulted in answers starting with "I will...", "I want...", or "I (verb)..."; which is a pointer back to our own works.

Aka, the question of asking someone what is he or her's new year resolution is another old trick by the thief.

Dont be fooled! Stop putting the I's, and forget about I, me, myself to reflect on your own personal strength and flesh. Your only "new year resolution" as a born again should only be "Yes, and amen!"

Sabrina @ Edinbrugh

2008-11-02T02:50:00.002+08:00

Edinbrugh Highlands sample

2008-11-02T02:37:00.001+08:00

A moment to finally reflect

2008-10-23T02:21:00.002+08:00

The past 7 weeks has been extremely packed, and people-filled. Not one time could I recall I could have the luxury to just spend some alone-time to let my mind catch up with the activities my body endures with.

So this post is going to be as random as it can get, as my mind desperately seeks to record and reflect what all these 7 weeks out of Singapore means.

I am now blogging this on a train with free wifi, from Edinburgh back to London to spend my last night there before catching my flight back.

The 7 weeks here in London may and should have been a corporate training on all things to do with banking, but my major take-aways have been everything but work-related. That perhaps is not too surprising for well-traveled folks. London to me was not only my first European experience, but also the first time I have been abroad for that long.

So in that regard, I am poorly versed in cultures. Bathed only with the stories of my varsity friends and hearsays from my even less-traveled parents, I undoubtedly grew up in a box, thinking that people from different cultures are remarkably different.

But in here, I learnt from the Japanese that societal cultures requires girls to pamper their guys, and pays for all their meals even in dates, even in modern times. Yet when I spoke to these girls, their conversations among themselves were no different from the ones I hear back home, or everywhere else for that matter. I remember at least one Japanese girl said she loves her boyfriend but does not trust it will go anywhere because he will not be earning enough in the foreseeable future. Are materialistic girls confined only to just Singaporeans? Probably not.

Yet the Russians have an attitude typical of our northern neighbours -- they get married in the early 20's without caring if there is enough money for a marriage, let alone life thereafter. Careers are not a often mentioned topic, but any gossips of soccer matches drives even the girls' adrenaline levels.

Regardless, Asians tend to draw from the spoken accent of the whites with the perception of superiority and knowledge. We can argue against this till no-end, but I think this can be easily proven otherwise. It is obvious that even within the European region, the Brits are perceived to be of a higher superiority than the Scots purely, because the Scottish accent is less undermining than the proud accent of the English.

However, acquiring an accent is not the solution; understanding accents perfectly and responding back in your own's however is a deeper showcase of strength. Else otherwise, the mimicking of an non-native accent can make one perceived to be weak, an therefore can be easily usurped over by white superiority.

But that aside, I can also feel I had began to understand much more about myself than I thought I already did from this 7 weeks. I had came to recognize the need (and the right) to be forthcoming with my strengths. I had always try to suppress them for fear of undermining others, but had to realized that possessing strengths is not a sin. No one needs to be a spiderman here.

In the same breath, I had also came to understand my real desires, needs, wants, and hates. And perhaps this is the scariest part -- I do not have the answers yet, and I fear not only would I not able to resolute them, I may not even have the guts to acknowledge them. And so therefore I fear I may have things to live in regret if they persist. Is that why adults used to tell us: "This is life...." ?

Until the next moment.

London Week 3 Wallpapers

2008-10-10T22:42:00.004+08:00

Westminister Abbey

Stonehenge

I am in London!

2008-09-14T23:20:00.002+08:00

but I cant access my own blog cos the wifi in macs says my blog contains adult materials (and I wonder what those are)

I have EXTREMELY limited internet in London here but I'll try my best to keep the closest of friends updated as much as I can.

And what more better than via pictures! Taken with my trusty 5D for the first time here in 7 days. If you are like Bel who is curious enough, yes the pictures are (as usual) edited slightly. The skies are pure though! its bright and sunny like Singapore for this weekend here!!

http://flickr.com/photos/l_ynch/sets/72157607281754144/

Sharing another testimony, from my house kopitiam

2008-08-17T16:34:00.000+08:00

The kopitiam fellas at my void deck finished their 7th month prayers, and threw a buffet with all sorts of da yu da rou. I know most of these guys (uncles and aunties) by face, but am not terribly close to them. But as I sat down, they pointed at the feast and said "xiao di, zhi ji qu na lai chi hor" (kiddo, go help yourself to the food)

my instinctive response "har, bu hai yi shi la" (hur, paiseh la!)
Auntie: "aiyo paiseh she mo! qu chi! qu chi!" (no need paiseh, go eat, go eat!!)

I'm terribly thrilled, because its the FIRST time in my life I got to offered FREE food from my house kopitiam. Especially when I'm not even part of the 7th month prayer gang. : D

But I'm just reminded of the verse that said, with favour, all things bad will only be made good in you through Him.

Psalms 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

-From His messenger boy

Devil may cry 4

2008-08-12T00:09:00.002+08:00

I cant begin to say how much I enjoy this game, and how much it thrills me that I could play this WITHOUT buying a PS3, despite just playing on a KEYBOARD.

I proclaim as one of the most hardest and ardent fans of the DMC series in Singapore. Damn, i bought my ps2 in 2001 ONLY because of the first DMC. I played normal, hard, DMC mode, got ALL the blue orbs, and still WENT BACK to play as Sparda mode in human form.

DMC2 sux. so let's not that about that.

Either way, if you cant find me on msn, you know which universe am i in. Be warned, DMC4 isnt the typical today game -- it is ESPECIALLY unforgiving if you cant get pass stages. That said, DMC4 is ALOT easier than the first one. Still, im sure your fingers will get some serious nerve wrecking.

ciao

Buns looking really happy

2008-07-27T23:55:00.002+08:00

On a rare cheerful sunny Sunday

Revelation from Transport Minister Raymond Lim

2008-07-16T00:05:00.005+08:00

"We have not taken the populist road. We have said if this is the right thing to do and the situation calls for it, we would do it and in the case of congestion charging, I know it’s difficult, it’s an unpopular measure, motorists who are affected are unhappy, but it is something that is necessary — something that we will do so as to ensure that Singaporeans continue to enjoy living in a city, in a garden, and not a city in a carpark!"

The reality is that as cars try to avoid ERP, other roads get congested and more gantries are put up on arterial roads. So really there is no avoiding ERP.

The Transport Minister said the alternative is to take public transport.

Quote source http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20080714/tap-266-businesses-motorists-worse-off-l-231650b.html"

IF that's so, why dont YOU take public transport? bAh!
Is this the reason why LKY is suddenly uping the issue of recruitment into politics is its biggest challenge?

The legend of Condor Heros 2008 is coming!

2008-07-07T23:37:00.005+08:00

[剧名]:新射雕英雄传
[制片人]：蔡艺侬
[导　演]：李国立
[主演]:胡歌林依晨袁弘黄秋生
[出品公司]：上海唐人电影制作有限公司
[集数]:40集
[简介]: 新版射雕英雄传是上海唐人电影制作有限公司拍摄出品，开拍与2006年7月24日，期间由于演员胡歌出车祸，故停拍一年，之后与2007年8月31日复拍，随后演员们也陆续进组，现在正在横店紧张的拍摄中……男主角郭靖的扮演者胡歌和女主角黄蓉的扮演者林依晨是继古装神话剧《天外飞仙》之后再次携手合作，此次射雕唐人不但起用了其旗下的艺人袁弘和刘诗诗扮演射雕里另一对主线人物杨康和穆念慈外，还邀请了不少两岸三地的影视明星加盟，如谢娜、李解、周海媚、梁家仁、黄秋生、孔维、徐锦江、翁家明等都会在这版射雕里精彩演绎…… 这次复拍剧组和演员们都付出很多心血，大家都非常努力的在配合，演员们对人物的把握也有一定认识和了解，也都很有信心演绎好各自的角色，相信将来一定会演绎出最完美的射雕呈现给广大观众朋友们！
唐人新版射雕在剧情安排上与以往有所不同，李国立表示，新《射雕》除了会加入不少有助塑造人物性格的细节外，整个剧情的脉络不会有太大改编，但讲故事的手法会变得更加有趣味性。在以前的版本中，都把注意力集中在黄蓉和郭靖成为恋人后，黄蓉怎么帮助郭靖成为一代大侠的，在新《射雕》中会强化两人相爱过程中波折少、趣味浓的特点。导演李国立也调查了前几部《射雕》版本的收视反映，大多数人认为开头描写小郭靖父母、身世的那段不好看，因此在新版中，郭靖一出现就已经是18岁了，之前的身世会作为回忆穿插于之后的叙事过程中。而以前的所有版本中都忽略了原著开场就有一场东邪、西毒、北丐以及王重阳等人参与的“华山论剑”，论剑结果是老顽童拿了众人抢夺的九阴真经跑到桃花岛，新版《射雕》就将以此作为开头，展开整个武侠传奇，而最后结尾又回到“华山论剑”，形成前后呼应的大格局。

//

As great as my mandarin, I still never fail to get excited to watch such "legendary" chinese epic dramas. Kudos to Jing yong and his chinese literature brillance -- you're my chinese drama hero!

At D for a week

2008-07-06T23:36:00.002+08:00

So there it is, I've started at my new place for a week already. Nothing's much been happening so far, and not even any single image taken (though I did ventured out with a camera on the first day to only realise its not fitted with a battery). Probably the only memorable takeaway was, boy this programme does much us feel extremely privileged.

I know what that meant -- or at least I thought I knew. The program managers were quick to point out that as soon as we started, our immediate colleagues (at whereever we get posted to) will be extremely jealous/envious of us graduate trainees. But what I did not quite realise was, this jealousy had set in even as early as the first day itself. That we get direct contact to senior management seems to one of the bane sore points.

And so it seems, one of the first task we have to undertake is to learn how to guard against the office politics of jealousy/enviousness.

The last night of freedom

2008-06-30T02:32:00.003+08:00

...and therefore the last night I could hang out that late in my world.

Seems as though time is never enough. Almost 4month's worth, I had accomplished everything of nothing. I thought I would have

1) did at least 10 other experimental photography
2) spent several mornings in a cafe in retrospect of the complexities of life
3) played all the video games I had downloaded since 2005, and at least installed them
4) bought my herman miller chair
5) read at least 3 books

Yet, time is always against us, and often placed in a way that's meant more than our own "selfish" needs. That we are not alone; and often being humans means -- we are there for others instead.

And in this time, I'm glad I've at least made several people in my life happier than they were, in big and small ways.

And in that way, I've more or less rested from all the mental,physical and financial stresses accumulated since secondary, uni and c.suisse that had unselfishly laid upon me. I've never rested since I was born actually. While most partied during school holidays, I was only out working to bring in dough to support myself the next semester. During semesters, all my sleeping hours only went to working, thereby explaining my scrawny physical built and tired-looking eyelids. At c.suisse, 16hrs of work + 3hrs transport means I only have 5 hours max to sleep everyday.

I hope now I have the strength to face the cruel working world, once again. This time, starting from His rest. Like Sabbath.

Aurvana disappointments

2008-06-26T21:22:00.002+08:00

Aurvana in-ear earphones. So-called creative's high end earphones

Got mine for only $80 bucks via staff price, after my previous 2year old creative ep-635 died on me. I've always been a fan of creative's ep630/ep635, so the natural upgrade to the aurvana was a no-brainer.

or so I thought.

The review is simple: I'm gonna sell it. Even despite that i got it at 60% discount, it's still not a match for their lower-end cousins. Its base-less, its lows and highs are not separated, and ... Shame on creative. Its no wonder Apple's toppling over you. Period.

last.fm

2008-06-24T13:00:00.002+08:00

Rawks. 'nuff said.

All-time favourite trip-hop muzik added below. : )

Who else is on last.fm? add me pls!

The real pleasure of photographic jobs...

2008-06-20T01:27:00.004+08:00

... is not about how much you are paid
... is not about what exposure you are getting (ok, that depends)
... but its when you get genuine responses from people who usually dont comment much.

"very nice pics once again, good Job!"

AGREED BRO! GREAT PICS!
(Copied directly from emails which I have just received when I reached home)

Its not really about narcissism actually. The truth is, much photog jobs are overlooked until they are published big (literally both in space/size and brand). So when (advertorial) clients give their honest comments even before looking at the final invoice, that's where the instant you know if your efforts behind both the lens and the damn screen was all worth it or not.

Its just a word of appreciation. Much like a "thank you" to a salesgirl in Singapore.

And you know how rare that is.

Firefox 3 launch a success: 8 million downloads in 24 hours

2008-06-19T18:22:00.002+08:00

The not-so-cute fox waves at you as a way of thanks. BTW, its the left paw.

read more about it here

Every Road Pay (ERP)

2008-06-18T15:48:00.003+08:00

Really, they dont cut road tax for nothing.

[UPDATE]
More gantries from Nov 08:

a. 3 new gantries on roads along the Outer Cordon in the morning. LTA will be installing new gantries at the following 3 locations along the Outer Cordon to address the congestion on these roads, namely (i) Commonwealth Avenue; (ii) Jalan Bukit Merah; and (iii) Alexandra Road.

b. 2 new gantries on expressways in the morning. One gantry is along AYE (westbound), near Alexandra Road, and the other is along PIE (westbound), near Eunos.

c. New gantry on Serangoon Road in the evening. To address the congestion on Serangoon Road during the evening peak hours, LTA will be installing a gantry there.

Everyone promised their FF3 pledge, but.....

2008-06-18T02:33:00.002+08:00

Looks like Mozilla prepared EVERYTHING to be in the Guinness World Record, except without the foresight of potential of server overloads. Embarrassment? I dunno. For sure, tomorrow's media is gonna contains tons of creative rebulks about Firefox3.

This is it. For the next 3 years

2008-06-17T16:59:00.001+08:00

Dear Graduates

Welcome to the xxx family and to the Graduate Class of 2008!

On your 1st day, 1 July 2008 (Tuesday), please arrive promptly at 9.45 a.m and bring along a photo ID to exchange for a security pass at the concierge. Security will be given a namelist and you could let them know you're expected on level 17. Please bring along the completed set of forms and documents, that were given to you/ indicated in your Welcome Pack, if you have not submitted them earlier to Julia Tay.

Your programme will commence with a half-day orientation:

09.45 a.m. Registration and HR Admin
10.00 a.m. Welcome by MD, Q & A
10.30 a.m. Graduate Panel Discussion
11.15 a.m. HR Business Partner and Programme Champion Welcome
11.30 a.m. Buffet Lunch with Managers
1.00 p.m. onwards Back at Respective Desks

Once you are at your desk, you can then approach your department secretary for a permanent pass. Upon this, please remember to return your visitor pass at the concierge.

Turn back to the Pendulum -- the prequel to Beach episode 01

2008-06-13T15:26:00.003+08:00

And (another) surprising twist as to how the Vizards were created...

Download Day 2008 with Firefox 3!

2008-06-13T13:57:00.004+08:00

We want to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. With the backing of our community and your help we know we can make it. What else can you do?

All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy. We're not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008. Join our community and this effort by pledging today.

//
Honestly, I am more attracted to the fox in the firefox. Just makes me wanna feel like effing strangle his neck. Oh what the heck. Follow them on twitter or whatever, and download it in 4 more days! And tell Microshytes (iN yAr fACe yo!) (excuse the AOL lingo ;D) that we dont need your dumbass IE8!

Manga Messiah - Manga about Christ

2008-06-12T15:18:00.006+08:00

Japanese
The long-awaited Japanese version of Manga Messiah is now available for purchase in Japan. Retail cost in bookstores is ¥1050. Manga Messiah is published in Japan by The Japan Bible Society.

Spanish
20,000 copies of Manga Messiah were recently printed in Spanish.

More than 750,000 Copies Printed
Manga Messiah has already been printed in six different languages, and thirteen more languages are currently in translation or production. So while we are excited about what's been done, we anticipate that this is only the begining.

// now, how cool is that!

WWDC '08 -- the launch of 3.5G Iphone

2008-06-10T01:56:00.004+08:00

~~Apparently, its gonna look like a HTC touch cruise.~~

~~Until tomorrow morning. Its currently being broadcasted as this was blogged.~~

[EDIT]
Looks like that wasnt the real thing afterall.
The official 3.5G Iphone does not have a secondary camera, but does (finally) have Pushmail support via Activesync (urgh) and a real GPS antenna.

Only for USD$199 or USD$299 (8GB/16GB), coming to Singapore shores tomorrow June 11th. That's way cheaper than HTC Diamond.

Klee first sample from HDRI workflow

2008-06-09T15:21:00.004+08:00

I think i finally nailed the workflow. Now, start rating!

its scary

2008-06-05T01:09:00.001+08:00

that Im not even visiting my own blog anymore.

:D

who's still here?

//
for the sake of everyone, this is a temporary change in blog template design. yes, i ripped it off from somewhere to stop that thousand-year-old song from playing. : )

Vampire Appliances, and the wisdom of our grand daddys

2008-05-14T17:14:00.002+08:00

I used to scoff at my parents for believing their parents wisdom in turning off electrical appliances at the mains. Today, I now humbly accept the wisdom of the older folks.

Being a engineering graduate (albeit in computers, but nevertheless), our fundamentals in EEE has taught us how the most basic components work and built to all the gadgets we today are so reliant on. I remember I was most intrigued to learn that behind the beautiful plastic cup which we turn to adjust music volumes is actually a variable resistor. In other words, we decrease the volume of the speakers by restricting the amount of electricity used to amplify.

That being said, I was also taught that even with the highest possible resistance, there will always be electrical leakages. But this is in such nano-meter-terms hat we'll never notice. So, when my parents opt to switch off all appliances on the mains, I could never understand how many cents we can save in a month, let alone in a year with that action.

Now with the government's new adverts on TV that tries to propaganda this age-old tradition, I begin to look carefully at my computer gadgets.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dell 30" Monitor:

Active Off - Less than 2W
Switched Off - Less than 1W (at 230 V)

Canon Printer:

Copying - Max 25W
Standby - 4W
Off - 1W

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1W even when off? This is nonsensical, and equally baffling to my EE background. But yet, this is the truth when I digged further:

Although the power needed for functions like displays, indicators, and remote control receivers is only in the milliwatt range, power supplies that are used to convert the AC line voltage to the low voltage needed to perform the functions typically operate at very low efficiency when they are operating at low power. As a result, the power consumed from the mains is often in the range of 1 W to 10 W or more

Please save electricity, especially with oil now at >USD$126! More details can be found here
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020926065912.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standby_power

Living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes

2008-05-07T00:23:00.002+08:00

Dont know how long this article will stay online for, but a very good read in the perspective of a U.S. citizen. It probably got to me as I ponder the feelings of an typical Amercian citizen when I mull over the financial numbers and why with America that huge of a population, only have Obama and Mrs. Clinton to represent the next generation of leaders.

Read them here

not-so-recent found memories

2008-04-25T19:28:00.004+08:00

Top: Me with the rest of the TAs (teaching assistants) and Prof Kong for "Leadership through Mentoring" Bottom: Me with the team that I mentored, "Team Transformers"

Somehow, film is better. : )
Thanks Meimei.

Made 15% profit on FX, hedging with SGD, but....

2008-04-11T01:10:00.007+08:00

I know most of you didnt know I have been quite an economist in some recent years since I entered varsity; but today's personal profit of 15% on FX USD/SGD has gotten myself pretty shocked.

However, I am not astounded with my trading wins/foresight/whatever. I am more shocked towards how 1) for the first time, hedging in SGD actually made money and 2) how much our SGD has appreciated over the frail USD. At this point of writing, we are looking at 1.35778/1.35823. Just some 2 weeks ago, I bought them at about 1.38, betting against its strength on SGD/weakness on USD.

I know most will say today is the most dangerous time to trade; but like all wisemen would say: in the face of adversity -- there will be others who can profit from a disaster. The only difference was, i had NO IDEA that MAS would actually trigger a tightening on their monetary policy on last wed. (i.e. if they didnt, I wouldnt make such a huge amount).

Yet this highlights the problem with our economy today. The MAS contraction on the SGD spells a ton of story of our economic outlook for at least the next 8 months, and if one were to figure out the figures, it looks something like this:

#1 CPI (currently at 6.6%) will most likely stay stable +/- 0.8%. i.e. we'll have to pay more for quite sometime; but we will most likely not need to pay MORE and MORE for the next few months

#2 Continued weakening of the USD until at least early next year. Indications are all everywhere. And no, subprime is not the root of all evil. Reliance on American-consumerism is.

#3 The weakening of the USD will thus push the price of oil futures further, having this week to just past $112 today, and most likely to continue to hit the psychological $120 barrier later this year. i.e. VERY BAD time for airlines again.

#4 The weakening of the USD has several long and big implications, but since we're living in SEA, the most immediate concerns will be 1) transport of goods, 2) cost of food, and subsequently cost of 3) govt subsidies (aka indirectly, cost of services)

#5 Back to pt 0 of this post, at least in Singapore, the monetary contraction thus hedges against pt 2 -- and would effectively mean we will be able to hold out high intl' prices for quite a while -- barring nothing significant happens (such as UBS filing for Chapter 13, or OPEC acknowledges to reaching "Oil peak" scenarios)

#6 So in retrospect, we also hedged ourselves against higher CPI (protecting our citizens), and subsequently protected ourselves against inflation. Yet, this is at the cost of competitiveness as this means we'll end up being an even more expensive country to make money from in SEA. Looks the government is VERY confident of the development in SG (casino, tourism, Youth Olympics, etc)

Let's hope this is true.

BTW, if you're also thinking of trying out some FX in SGD, its unlikely to replicate this kind of earning (or losing amount; if you hedged the other way). "`The recentering is effectively a one-time appreciation of the Singapore dollar,'' said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. "

Article source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoePDe5Yrk5Q&refer=home

//
From a Biblical POV; yes it does look like a huge mess. A scenario where interest rates have failed as an instrument to correct the market. We have obviously shot ourselves in the foot. The "intelligence" of men, is what I ponder most. We're our worst enemies -- and history has to prove it time and time again. We do NEED a God, truly.

Actual Weixin and Wendy samples

2008-03-29T19:25:00.002+08:00

Now for dinner;
and also, for some much needed retail therapy.

Other further testings

2008-03-29T04:39:00.001+08:00

Comments any?

Andrez's technique test

2008-03-27T18:50:00.002+08:00

As you can tell, its done in an EXTREMELY slipshot manner. BUT, i am extremely pleased with the results I am getting. Stay tuned for applied scans : )

Crowbars Awards 2007 spoof

2008-03-27T17:16:00.003+08:00

Just for laughs. Take it with a pinch of salt. Was doing tidying up on my workstation and cames across this hilarious gem. Something that happened between Jeremy and me last year that spurred the dumb idea. Keep laughing.

Tone mapping applied

2008-03-26T02:30:00.003+08:00

Sample from the W2 couple - new morning edit

Sample from the W2 couple - last night's edit

Wont say I am terribly good at it yet, but I think I am pretty satisfied with what I am getting so far. The tonal range is almost what I envisioned, but there's still something that's missing which I cant figure out what.

New morning edit as I got pissed off with what I did last night. But i still sense something's wrong somewhere. Cant think right now -- gotta go!!

Tone mapping test

2008-03-21T19:07:00.005+08:00

I know its been awhile, but trust that will all the free time I have right now, I'll be able to do alot more experimentations which I have been holding off for more than 2 years than I could previously.

I am just back from my one year's anniversary; wont disclose what we were really up to but we definitely have tons of fun, surprises, laughter, and (of course) more peektures taken.

So below is one of those impromptu ones which was requested by her's truly -- but I took one step to it to do a quick test of some new techniques I picked up over the years but never been able to try out. Granted that my stomach is rumbling in hunger as I am merely waiting for dinner, this test wasnt as extensive as I would like. However, I think this would be one of those things that will become more often in time to come. Hopefully : )

Original shot over Benjamin Shears Bridge
f/18.0, 20.0s, -2/3 EV, iso 100, 70mm

Tone mapping test over Benjamin Shears Bridge
Click on image to see higher web-res

Its been a long time...

2008-03-13T23:46:00.002+08:00

Much had happened since the previous post. Nevertheless ,its all sorted, and we're a happy bunkits once more.

But more excitingly, tomorrow's my last day at where I am today. Very bittersweet indeed. I never knew how much impact I made to people's life -- especially when I didnt try to.

: )

Stifled

2008-02-26T01:07:00.012+08:00

Taken for granted
Impervious to pleas, appeals, or reason; stubbornly unyielding, even with the world's patient explainations
Always adamant in her POV, and never considered the repercussions until after the pain came
Unable to see the other side of the fence
In the name of "concern", but in reality, emotional abuse
Want things to happen in her way all the time, and immediately. But the same cant be true in reverse
Chided and embarrassed her guy in front of his friends --> obviously have thrown away respect even as a friend
.. and thinking that chiding him in front of his friends would be the best way to get what she wants. In reality, its makes her guy feel more stifled and thus, more unhappy with you. In other words, he feels better to be with his friends than with his girl
Sat and pout, but expect love to still shower down after the above points
Have recent spat of bad events happening in her life, but failed to see they all happened due to the same root cause, including mine.
and im still feeling mad after >2 days. wow, you broke my life record.
and why this blog post? Because I am DEEPLY hurt, and I need to remind myself that there are some things in life I cant just simply let you have your way like the way I always do.

//
And i am also reminded again. Why can most people dont complain about driving semi-strangers to places that's not convenient to themselves? Its called a heart of generosity

And even so...

2008-02-02T04:23:00.000+08:00

i lagi heart!!

Cort SFX5

2008-02-01T02:25:00.000+08:00

i heart!

BODY STYLE	SFX Shape
CUTAWAY	Venetian
CONSTRUCTION	Dovetail Neck Joint
TOP	Solid Sitka Spruce
BACK	Mahogany
SIDES	Mahogany
NECK	Mahogany
TRUSS ROD	Adjustable
FINGERBOARD	Rosewood
INLAY	White Dia / Dot
TUNERS	Die cast w/ Black Knobs
BRIDGE	Rosewood
SOUNDHOLE ROSETTE	Abalone
BINDING	Multiple Ivory
SCALE	25.3" (643mm)
BODY DEPTH	83 x 83mm
NUT WIDTH	43mm
FINISH	Gloss
COLOR	NAT, LVB, BK
PICKGUARD	N/A
STRING	D'Addario EXP11 80/20 Bronze Light
ELECTRONICS	Fishman Classic 4T
LEFTY	N/A
CASE	N/A

Greek Masterpieces from the Lourve

2008-01-21T01:12:00.000+08:00

And somehow, its FOC today. We asked the counter girl if there was any special reason, to which she only gestured a awkward smile and shrugged her shoulders. So blessed!

Back 'n forth

2008-01-10T02:02:00.000+08:00

A tale of 3 machines -- all on my desk

2007-12-31T00:49:00.000+08:00

Office work (IBM T43, 14.1"), Desktop workstation (Dell 30"), and Macbook (13.3")

Seriously, I now feel EXTREMELY suffocated when working with a <20" screen. mews. Anyhow, happy birthday to my desktop workstation! Its been exactly a year, and Im surprised its price has hardly depreciated. heh

And oh yes, what a meaningless post. Indulge in me. hrm.

Red dot museum

2007-12-27T01:24:00.001+08:00

Didnt shoot much while I was there -- pretty much because alot of the stuffs were original and (atas me), there's this thing in me that just wanted to fully respect the artists' originalities and work by not shooting them.

But at the same time, I had some fella calling me from London about some system failure, and had to frantically looked for a stable wireless point to remote in to my office desk. hur.

Nevertheless, I got a copy of Reddot design award 2006 book for FREE. Well, its supposed to be FREE if you are a designer. (But im not?) They apparently regard photographers as a designer too (LOL?), but its one of the best freebies in the world -- so yays I grabbed the thick colourful book back home in glee.

The book I got, albeit in a different cover design

I swear...

2007-12-08T02:01:00.000+08:00

.. I am going to leave this damn place sooner than I want. Now Lord, tell me why did you put me here in first place?

SIGH

Its my 5-day block leave... BUT

2007-12-07T03:05:00.000+08:00

... i still haven't got the chance to lay back on my bed and snooze around with the luxury of wasting time by (here goes the list) sleeping, eating, sipping coffee at starbucks watching the world go by, sipping Mr Tea at SMU to watch the stream of alien faces scatter across by, playing all the downloaded but untouched games, finish gundum 00 and other animes, sell my old pc.... and...

and all I managed out of the past 4 days? was just: 1 wedding photography DI work and packing my room up. My goodness. I spent all my time just on rushing photog work, and this is all I've got this week. Am I getting slower at DI work now, or am I just getting more and more particular with DI technicalities?

and of all the friends I got to catch up with: only just Yiling and Kevin/Mayee, and Kenneth.

All of which, I had to make my gf come along with instead of spending time with her. I guess that's why she's probably not too happy with me.

; (

Slipping into the journey of aging together and forever and 'ver till death till us part

2007-12-05T19:04:00.000+08:00

SATA2 + AHCI + RAID try out

2007-11-26T23:42:00.000+08:00

On a rare night, I am doing images again, albeit this time only trying out some new technology (hur...). Finally managed to get SATA2 working on RAID under AHCI mode (3GBits/s transfer rate!!). Trust me, its really making SCSI a run of its money! What usually takes about 5secs to render a RAW image in the past (on my workstation) now only takes <1s. Additionally, I've got +750gb more to my stash, I'm totally thrilled!

Sample image done with my enhanced rig.

Very overdue-d, really. But still not the latest. ; p *looks at mayee*

+ removed registry caches
+ defragmentations
+ partitioned
+ indexed HDD

woot!

Miracles upon miracles

2007-11-26T00:38:00.000+08:00

so many many!

Strange overnight disappearance of a lcd crack/bubble
No more strange plights at work
Good laughing friends
and..

...a New destiny into 2008 : )

Grace Grace.

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
2 Timothy 1:7:

[Wedding] - The rare weddings that I do

2007-11-19T00:09:00.000+08:00

But for close friends and relatives, its always a pleasure. : )

hola iPhone; goodbye

2007-11-13T22:26:00.000+08:00

iPhone. no wow

//
So there, I bought and sold an iPhone just in a span of a day. I guess millions will love it; I just cant live (after being spoilt) without news, GPS that doesnt incur data charges; and most importantly, a keyboard that requires not only both my hands but also both my eyes just to text someone "ok".

Youtube rocks on it however. It loads, works and looks like a cinema in your hands. And with that lcd screen that is interpolated even better than PSP's, I guess its just so good at having everyone around the dinner squeezing in envy and showering your phone (and not you) with zillion ouches of attention.

That aside, I am so sure, we're going to see a iPhone v2 shortly after it launches in Singapore. Mark me.

but because I am too busy/tired/lazy to blog...

2007-10-23T22:33:00.000+08:00

... but I have to do it. But am copying over from Xin's post instead. ; p

//

Km's birthday party was one of the most successful surprise party I've ever planned! And best of all, it was effortless and enjoyable. The idea of the entire celebration was to pamper him and let him have a relaxing time as work had been driving him up the wall lately. We both took off from work to spend this special day together. Of course, I didn't tell him what the program was for the entire day.

The day started off with me making mince meat and mushroom pasta for km. The initial plan was to take him out to the beach for a nice picnic but too bad the weather was not on my side. As acccording to my weather plan, we had lunch at his place. I was happy that Km was thoroughly satisfied with the taste of the pasta=)

Done by yours truely

The after lunch program was to take km for facial at Pac plaza. However, because km had been so tired for the past few weeks, getting his butt to move a little quicker wasn't too easy. What's more, he didn't had any clue what was the day's program gonna be like. I had to shift the facial appointment much much later to cater to km's reluctance to get ready a wee bit faster. Thank God there was a later facial appointment during the day! Km was a little nervous when I took him up the escalator at Pac plaza. That's coz he thought that I was going to take him for some yoga session at True Yoga! hahaha! When we passed by True Yoga and up another escalator towards LifeSpa, km gave a sigh of relief. heehee!
Anyway, I dumped kelvin for facial and took the opportunity of time to go settle the hotel room at Swissotel Merchant Court. Along the way, got some really nice pretty balloons and card at Centrepoint, and took a bus down. I was really holding on to the balloons for my dear life as I was damn scared it would just slip outta my fingers! After checking in the hotel and placing the card and balloons on the bed, km called to say he was done with facial! That was so much earlier than expected! To stall more time, I told km to meet me at clarke quay mrt station whilst I made further preparations. Realising that you needed a card to scan before you could press the lift button to the level you want, I knew that this could possibly ruin my surprise for km.
See, the past few days was spent contacting a couple of kelvin's close friends from poly, smu and some from his previous work place to come knocking at our hotel room door to give him a mega huge surprise! So if I had to come up and down to get them up, it would have so totally ruined the surprise. In the end, I made a special request for the receptionist to take my friends up to my room as long as they cited my name and room number correctly.

km at our hotel room looking really surprised!

After sms-ing everyone the details, I picked up km from the mrt station. While walking towards the direction of Swissotel, km coincidentally needed to go to the loo. I suggested using the 'toilet' at the hotel. Km thought it was a good idea and consented to it. Somehow before we could use the hotel's lobby toilet, I jolted him towards the lift and brought him up to our room. Km was extremely shocked to find out that I had actually booked a room and was pleasantly surprise to see the pretty balloons! He was even more surprised to find out that I had packed his clothes with me while he showered before leaving his home.

yummy black pig cutlet

Dinner was a stone's throw away from our hotel. I decided to take km to eat at , in my humble opinion, the best jap restaurant in singapore-Tampopo. It was located at Liang Court's basement. They served the best tasting black pig cutlet and ramen!

Mouthwatering Ramen with pork bone soup boiled for over 2 days.

Km gave all praises to the reasonably priced and superbly delicious food. I was glad I chose Tampopo to dine in. Btw, check out km's complexion! It's really much more radiant doncha think?!

No thanks to my friends, Carol and Jeremy sorta dropped hints that we were up to something and that got km really suspicious whenever I answered the phonecalls or sms. To make him drop the idea that we had a surprise brewing underneath us, I psychoed myself to look really really disappointed and got him to believing that nobody was coming after all. That got km kinda upset and disappointed and resigned to the fate that his birthday was gonna be just a celebration between the both of us. Then I pretended to be really tired and told km to head back to the hotel as soon as possible. Little did he know his friends were just eagerly waiting for his arrival!

Tada! When we arrived at our hotel room, we heard Jeremy chatting really loudly to Carol. Km thought they were some rowdy neighbours just being inconsiderate. That's when carol shouted 'Surprise!'. hahahaha....and all of his friends-kevin, jay, kenneth, ryan, may, karen, kk sprang up from behind and darted into our room. km was absolutely shocked beyond words! hahaha...and immediately, his disappointed face earlier turned into a cheerful and spritely one!

Km gingerly opens up his presents

Km was greeted with presents, cakes , champagne and more guests to come. Later, people like andrea, poly friends dawn, nicholas, daniel, wenyin and km's god daughter, xuan arrived to the scene.

That's km whispering to my ears 'you're damn sneaky!'

Cheesecake

xuan xuan cutting God dad's cake

Km's kinda scared to believe anything I say now..heh

Happy as a lark

Karen and kk, Andrea, Km and I

Carol and Jeremy

Party was packed with more than 16 people in the room and we all had a great time together chatting and what not. I'm just really grateful to all those who managed to make it for the surprise party under such a short notice. I'm glad it turned out really smoothly and we all succeeded in making km a really happy happy boy. =)

Happy birthday my dearest!=) *paw print*

What i use my new productivity tool for...

2007-10-19T13:12:00.000+08:00

Hrmp!!
Who's your daddy!!!

Finally...

2007-10-15T23:49:00.001+08:00

New productivity tool

Shoots upon shoots again

2007-09-10T02:00:00.000+08:00

A recent spat of shoots all over my schedule suddenly, abruptly. Just a few to share. Without all the advertorial-required DI and client comments. Take it with a pinch of salt.

//
Now back to my other life. Goodnight

Odex versus Singapore

2007-09-03T02:11:00.001+08:00

This is the reason why Odex will never win its fight for copyrights in this country.

(From InitialD: Stage 4)

Credits goes to here

Getai @ Clementi Central

2007-09-03T01:28:00.000+08:00

//
I think the images speak for themselves. BTW, did you managed to notice the girl/auntie/lady who played as a cast in Roystan Tan's 881? heh

Zhen @ Singles party

2007-09-02T15:56:00.000+08:00

Not sure why I didnt load this up. Heck. I've got tons of images not loaded up anywhere else also. *LOL* Anyhow, an example of what white balance can do. Yup that's right, this image is as raw as it gets.

New toy - D-link DGL4300

2007-09-02T15:34:00.000+08:00

//
For too long I have been wishing to get a router that wont drop my connections whenever I do torrents. So in summary, to spare all the techie talk and brags off me, I'll just say I am terribly happy to replace my older D624+ with this sleek black dude. Now I can run like a zillion torrents at max speed without once dropping my connection. But what I did not expect was -- hell, it also made my overall internet surfing alot snappier. Thanks to its QoS engine (Quality of Service) which in layman terms just means it can prioritize and optimize your internet speed to its maximum potential. In other words, if you're subscribed to a blazing fast connection but wondering why you're not getting the speed bump you paid for -- your router is probably the big reason why.

On the other hand, I know Im abit late to the DGL4300. Its already just been recently replaced by the DIR-655 and DIR-633 -- routers that even best out my recent toy. But heh, I only got mine brand new for a $100 bucks lesser than retail -- so economically, it just makes better sense. Grab me more for dota now! Im sure Im running the best host with this black bugger which is coupled by the best (but 7yr+ old) adsl modem ever made -- the Efficient Speedstream 5660.

Oh, did I mention it blinks blue neon lights too? So pretty, when your room is dark! heh

No more pick and bites?

2007-08-27T00:11:00.000+08:00

I long its been a long time since I've updated this place, but before I get to that, im alot more inclined (and VERY disturbed) about something else.

//
As I blog right now, someone is telling me that now Pick and Bites is no longer the same place it used to be anymore! As soon as my batch has graduated, the ISF gang were fined and caused much of its remaining remnants scattered, with only a few migrated to Mr Tea. The rest are busy with SA, or some other parts of their life -- but that's irrelevant. What matters most is... WTH happened?! Picks by itself was almost like the remnant of the Bukit Timah spirit back in the old campus -- where everyone knew everybody, and favours of any sorts are hardly ever rejected. Heck, you can probably even put your notebook there for an entire day, and the ISF will be there to see its still intact and not taken by someone else.

I know clearly this is just a small SMU kind of domestic issue. But that's the real reason why I spent my last semester there everyday -- rain or shine -- 1) to savour the last bits of the SMU BT spirit before I get whizzed away to the working world and 2) the fear of coming back to Picks to only envy the new ISF students and their cluster (which I used to call my own) and not being able to fit in anymore.

But now, it turns out that that very same spirit I know I will miss is gone! Is that the end of the SMU BT spirit? Only to be replaced by these punks who didnt go through the OBS orientation aka THE orientation that made the first few batches of SMU students grew that werid sort of warm camaraderie feel?

No more Bukit Timah we cry huh? Now that's more painful than I thought when we sang that during graduation dinner.

EOSFORMERS!

2007-08-10T15:30:00.000+08:00

Weakspot? I guess all I'll need is to find a dust-gun and shoot dust inside the lens mount. ho ho hoho ; p

Legs went wobbly today

2007-08-10T01:48:00.000+08:00

because Xin and I saw RUI-EN today unexpectedly at Tangs Orchard. We came down from the 2nd floor with the objective of having dinner, only to find myself gawking at this familiar stranger. Little did I know what my eyes were set on all through those long seconds, was the same girl that Andrea used to say I wouldnt be interested in in months to come. So there I was, hands interlocked with Xin, but with jaws ajar coupled with the most sheepish look I could involuntarily mustered -- which set both Rui-en politely smiling and the Lancome counter girl laughing at me.

Dammit. Now why didnt I have my camera with me in times like this!

Round #1

2007-08-05T08:45:00.000+08:00

Xin Serah and Jeremy with a "Shot of Inspiration" (See bus poster)

Now scooting off for Round #2. hur. GROWLS

Xin at Pengerang

2007-08-03T19:33:00.001+08:00

Draft DI copy. Seems like a little tilted to me. *puzzled*
Must be the diarrhea that's acting up on my internal spirit bubble.

Laters!

[Muzik of the week] 4 Wings - Penelope

2007-07-30T15:33:00.000+08:00

You're currently listening to:

4 Wings - Penelope

[Muzik of the week] is a little project of this blog to showcase the non-commercial non-mainstream muzikal world which RIAA has been shielding the world from. Undoubtly also called "Saving the World, One song at a time" project, [Muzik of the week] is updated on every monday after 12:00am (GMT + 8hrs)

Xin at SMU Nostalgia Grad Night Ritz-Carlton

2007-07-29T14:06:00.000+08:00

Encore, but a alot more comfy Xin *winks*

Frantic Bimbs with my PSP

2007-07-23T02:35:00.001+08:00

This is how Bimbs play Bleach 4: Heat the soul on my PSP. And I thought Locoroco with Xin was worse. Hilarious to the ass. *LOL*

After Graduation, at night

2007-07-20T19:49:00.000+08:00

Xin, Reina, Hoi and Dawn @ Winebar
The Darn SN gers whom boys like us have to suffer with. heh.

Sometimes, after so long...

2007-07-18T00:25:00.000+08:00

My screen estate on my 30" LCD monitor

Sometimes, even after so long, I am still amazed at my screen's real estate. Talking about which, I still have made no mention about this rig that i rigged up on Jan this year. Oh boy, now its already > 6mths old. I better blog about it soon. heh

Deep Dish vs Dire Straits - Flashing for Money

2007-07-16T22:25:00.000+08:00

You're currently listening to:

//This week breaks the genre of commercial muzik. Kudos to Leonard for introducing this song -- it reminded me how long have I not explored current electro-trance muzik. Hesitated to put this at first, but man its addictive. So there you go. Deep Dish. My favourite duos.

Jeff

2007-07-16T17:33:00.001+08:00

Lost MSN Contacts

2007-07-16T15:13:00.000+08:00

No thanks to Windows Mobile 6 and the way it integrates the Windows Live! services on my phone (it basically combines your MSN contacts together with your normal phonebook addresses to become this insanely huge chunk of list of people to scroll down to when you need to call someone).

So when I started to delete all these redundant entries on my phone's phonebook, little did i know it also deletes them also from my MSN list. WTF.

Windows Live!, you just earned yourself another bad mark. Not giving the option for users and FORCING them to integrate the MSN list to the phone marks you down by another couple of points.

I hate chew.

Windows mobile 6 is finally out!

2007-07-13T16:44:00.000+08:00

//
Yes, I've already upgraded to it despite the slight complications involved in the upgrade process that might potentially 1) render my phone totally unusable, 2) destroy information that I didnt backed up or worse 3)my current applications do not work on the newer operating system.

I was just thinking about to ditch my phone for a lesser being such as a k800i, especially since this phone makes me missed calls so often. With WM6 however, I felt as though I just got myself a new phone. It such an different beast right now that I love it even more than ever.

Kudos to Microsoft for free upgrade to WM6 (huh, rare of me to praise this company isnt it?) and Dopod for making specially-made ROMS for individual phones like mine! Trust me, the changes from WM6 in Microsoft's literature didnt spell everything (surprisingly). Now you can finally do things like tap-and-hold-X to close an app, after YEARS of suffering since 2001. It even has a automatic word complete mechanism around the entire PPC, much like the way you see in Microsoft Word. And Windows Live! on PPC too!

*hops off the blog*

[Muzik of the week] Govinda - Cant forget the day

2007-07-02T02:41:00.000+08:00

You're currently listening to:

Govinda - Worlds Within

[Muzik of the week] is a little project of this blog to showcase the non-commercial non-mainstream muzikal world which RIAA has been shielding the world from. Undoubtly also called "Saving the World, One song at a time" project, [Muzik of the week] is updated on every monday after 12:00am (GMT + 8hrs)

Back from Shanghai - Shaz's birthday

2007-07-02T02:30:00.000+08:00

Da jia hao! Just back from Shanghai since Thurs morning. Did tons of stuffs since I was back -- so much so that I cant remember what they were. But I guess starting from the most recent one would help. Sharon's birthday at AMK hub today with the rest of the crew, which mainly consist of erm, just Xuan. heh.

Sharon e happy girl with the birthday gift

Mother Dawn with the now very much bigger/taller Xuan

Dawn, Xuan and Gan Ma

The all natural poser, kudos to the genes from her vain mummy

So there it is, and with Karris and LK's wedding over the weekend

2007-06-19T21:52:00.000+08:00

Im flying off to Shanghai for the next 8 days. Cya folks! Pray for our safetly! and rendezvous with my xin. : )

//

Karris the bride smiling from ear to ear as she graces upon the aisle
More pictures here

Losing to blog

2007-06-19T03:40:00.000+08:00

...and to make up for that, here's something I picked up that I was really amused to no end.

//

If you've been/going to Vivocity...

2007-06-12T02:14:00.001+08:00

"The Crew" with my first Advert

I know its no big deal -- I've got a few adverts running in Singapore right now that were in someway or another produced by your's truly. But anyhow if you happen to go Vivocity, do check out these posters plastered all over the building. Its one of the first few successful adverts that I had art-directed and produced as a JAD for Vivocity/Mapletree; and sure its not especially pretty, and perhaps due to my inner ego, it just felt so good to see the fruit of our product finally out in open. Yet, the sad thing about advertising (like most other jobs), no one can see how much pain and sweat (and the time spent on the concept board stage) no matter how great (or lousy) the advert is.

BTW, isnt it ironic that a photographer produced an advert to entice other photographers about a photo competition? BTW, 1st price is $10,000! JJJ MTL! (join join join, mai tu liao!)

Virgin Cafe Del Mar

2007-06-10T17:35:00.000+08:00

Our virgin visit to Cafe Del mar after Xin's last exams of her entire varsity life was met with huge disappointments. Things were pretty cheap alright, and there wasn't any cover charges. But the place felt more than just cold (its was damn hot btw. Even non-perspiring folks like me had my shirt wet with sweat) Besides the smiley but unhelpful and slow waiters, the entire place just felt like an over decorated swimming pond (Yes you saw that right. Its a pond). Seeing some of the expats/Angmoh doing stupid stuffs like falling themselves backwards into the pond multiple times presumably out of boredom only further confirms my conviction.

Chilling korners
(see the light streaks? those are caused by my broken b+w filter. More on that another time. sigh. Maybe i have another use for broken filters now?)

Romping korners

The private korners

The singles/pick me up korner

//
Cafe Del Mar no more. My client's place Timbre is tons better.
Rawks on Danny.

Reservist memiors

2007-06-07T00:21:00.000+08:00

The only other guy who's the same age as me -- our OCU resting after coming back from his cousin's wake (the same guy who died during the heavy rain at Mt Ophir)

ZF with a python!

The new yellow magazine

My favourite pointman of all time -- Shawal!

I take ewww, you take meeeeee.

"No smoking" compound

Hassan trying to look cool

Us testing this new equipment called the light ballon

My dear brudder in crime

2007-06-06T23:32:00.000+08:00

Jeremy -- the second friend I made in SMU; and the first guy friend among the horde of countless girls in my vain university. He once wrote on friendster that our friendship began by us having a ball and we somehow manage to kick it around (or something like that -- WEM ; p). To the dear brudder in crime on mine: hope this image gets all the dreams you've ever dreamt in your entire life. You know what i mean. heh. God bless.

Another view of Jiak Kim Street on Vesak day 2007

2007-06-01T01:38:00.000+08:00

The aftermath of the fight
(Click on the image to see hi-res)

Am finally out of reservist!

2007-05-31T04:45:00.000+08:00

The she-bang outside Zouk at only 1040pm
(Click on the image to see hi-res)

Am finally out of the dreadful reservist. Hur. Went out with the reservist guys to supposedly to Mambo; but as you can see here, its near impossible to get out even if you somehow managed to get in. Met up with good ol' pals Kevin and Judy (and later Mark) in Winebar instead, and chatted all the way until we felt hungry at 2am. Hell yea, we were totally oblivious to the crowd outside -- especially more so as we stood comfortably in the middle of the bar with the aircon duct just gracefully right atop of us.

Im sure everyone else's experience in Zouk that night was nothing short of just profuse perspiration from all that queuing with the other silly folks. We were just under the aircon. We're so cool. Ha

//
BTW, the moment i got off the bus to the the main road of Zouk, I witnessed a gang of guys fighting just right before my eyes while the rest of the crowd of gazillion people watched the show as they puff away on their Marlboro's. Apparently its those classic case of "I saw the cab first, CCB!", only that the dispute was between adult APNNs. WTF

Happy birthday and 2nd month

2007-05-20T21:33:00.000+08:00

Xin looking pleasantly surprised already at 1/3 of the surprise birthday package that I've planned for her. Did you see the Effiel tower illustration made out of choco powder on her creme? hehe

Have to rush again to book back into camp, but I spent the whole of last week planning for Xin's surprise birthday yesterday. She didnt even suspect I made any reservation, and she really thought I bought no gifts (or flowers even), and worse, didnt expect to go to RochesterOne only to meet the rest of our SMU gang despite the tight deadlines everyone has at this current juncture of time. hehe.

More stories when im back. Oh and btw, i hurt my kneecap during LLE (low light engagement) exercise. Crashed my knee onto the stairs in total darkness while running away from fire after my entire team got "eliminated" by the "terrorists". KNN

Away on reservist

2007-05-13T18:06:00.000+08:00

That pretty explains why this space is not populated these days. hur. Reservist all the way until 28th May. Sucks. Wait to rush, rush to wait.

//
A shot done before I went in

Ser's mum. heh. See the similarities?

An evening outside my kitchen windoez

2007-05-06T20:10:00.000+08:00

Yes I know, the text is misaligned and I didnt follow the grid. Im just rushing to go bathe and have my dinner. Parents are causing me extreme PMS. Is there no way to let go the chain? Argh

//
Updated the grid. Slipshot. Hur. Now tummy's make funny waves. Dont have the mind to think about it.

Imagenius

2007-05-05T23:18:00.000+08:00

yawns

Troubled but loved

2007-04-29T03:57:00.000+08:00

Am not too sure why I am feeling a sudden strange major turbulence in my mood since last night until now; it is as though I am suffering from some strange pangs of a perpetual PMS. To the point that I pulled a long face to my dearest Xin the whole of today, which seriously, made me feel so guilty now.

Hur. The combination of a nasty mood swing + guilt is such a big bad mix of emotions.

I realised I tend to show this side of me (the long face me) to people close to me once in awhile, and I've never felt bad for doing so. But to Xin, I felt as though I made the most horrible mistake in my life. I wasnt angry with her of course, but knowing me, everything else that hampers your chain of endless unproductive worries just irritates the innards out of you.

But I am most amazed that after the entire day, not only was Xin not the least bit annoyed at my sudden level zero zeal in my mood + my donkey-long (and black face), she still continued to shower me with love and understanding despite her trying her best to fight against her QM project the fastest she could possible.

And while I am still now feeling sore over whatever dumb shit ass thoughts and worries in my head, Xin just told me to let's go sleep "together" now, especially now when its raining and the weather is so cool. I couldnt at first still, until she typed this.

'lay here and just forget about the world'

Thanks Xin. That reminded me about everything about this relationship.
*hugs*

I'm making milo for you now. : )

At Last week's ASOC Gala Dinner @ Le Meridien

2007-04-27T17:23:00.000+08:00

I know I havent been updating this space for quite some time, and yesh *covers head*, I've been scolded badly by a few of you. ; p

Anyhow, a fast blog post before I run off to meet Xin -- at last week's ASOC Gala Dinner. Im no accounting student, but my Xin is. Coincidentally it was also our 1 month's. Was mad at work, then rushed to get everything I wanted to give her @ the dinner, but had only successfully got her 1 item out of 3. (opps my bad)

Eitherway, we had helluva good time. Xin even got me an Audition A-cash card to buy pretty digital dancing clothes. Hur. Most unbelievable! hehe

Rahrah, the girl who still keep telling Xin and me to "stop it hor!"

My Xin looking pwetty

Us at the Gala dinner, of which we quickly left for Bar-stop later and some lomantic evening ; p

My gf blogs better than I do -- of waiting games at D.Ghaut and our lcd screen

2007-04-20T03:14:00.000+08:00

Its true -- im not lazy. I had wanted to write my own account, but she does it so much better than I do. : )

The following were taken from her's. heh

**Hide and seek at Dhoby Ghaut mrt **
The start of the week after the term break was superbly eventful. No, it was not because of the two consecutive presentations I had on Mon and Tue. They were the many little snippets of events and happenings that occurred during my outings with Km. I think putting them into a short local story production is not such a bad idea too. That goes to show how animated and crazy they were! I thank God for spicing up our relationship with all these strange happenings! Will always bring about a topic to laugh about forever and ever! hahaha...

Anyway, on Monday, it was the first time kelvin actually forgot to bring his hp despite taking it with him diligently every single day for the past 2 years. We had a pre-arranged appointment to go to Clementi central to make his spectacles and my objective was to help him choose the design. Without any phone, kel chose to meet me at the 'last door, last carriage of the train platform that goes to Clementi at Dhoby Gaut MRT' since he was coming from Farrer Park MRT. We even joked about how romantic it was to have no hp and revert back into the days of pager where there was no sophisticated form of communication and very often, couples then relied on vague information and basic trust for any outings to happen. In addition, we joked that we should try not to use our hp and somehow find each other at a certain location based on first hand interaction via MSN or any other form of temporary communication tool we can find at the moment. You know, playing a little romantic game of hide and seek. hur...

6.40pm was the stipulated time to meet. DG MRT station was a little tricky because it goes to Clementi via two ways-1) to either go by the NEL and change at Outram; or 2) to go to Raffles place and hop onto the line that goes to west.
Rushing down rather late, at about 6.50pm, I asked the attendent which was the way to head to Clementi. She said to take the line that goes to Raffles place. Heeding her advice and choosing option 2, I waited at the platform for about 5-10 minutes for km to appear. There was no sign of him at all. Thinking that he could have most probably be talking about option 1, since he was coming from Farrer Park, I walked quickly to the NEL and planted myself at the 'last door, last carriage' area hoping that he would come and find me there soon. Seconds were like minutes, minutes were like hours, hours were like eternity (really). By 7.40pm, I saw no signs of km still. I panicked myself with thoughts of something bad happening to km on the road while on his way. Then I just hopped onto the train and brought myself to Clementi. I was really exhausted as I had a long day, and yet at the same time I had to wait so freaking long for him to come and along side, I found it so strange that he didn't use the public phone to call me. I mean, u want to be romantic also no need to be so silly right? haha...(it was found out later that he tried calling me on a public phone after waiting excruciatingly long for the indian fella in front of him to finish telling his epic to his grandmamamamama; but to no avail. The line couldn't get through at all despite trying several attempts.In addition, kel walked up and down at both platforms but somehow, we missed each other out! ) Anyway, I took a bet and went to the spectacles shop at Clementi central and sat down there to wait for him. Finally, the phone rang and it was kelvin. Thank God. hur. He probably sensed that it was best for him to go back to his place and get his hp to contact me.

How exasperating. He made his way to the spectacles shop. It was 10pm then. And I was so happy to see him. We were both freaking hungry, tired, hyped, worried, stressed and everything mashed into one. Kelvin was totally not in the mood to make his spectacles but I insisted in doing so. We chose a black rimmed spectacles that made him look charmingly stern( in some ways I suppose). Having subjected to all the mental and physical ordeal, Kelvin insisted that we fed ourselves with some real good food to treat ourselves. We landed ourselves at Holland V's crystal jade and to my surprise, Kel really ordered alot of things compared to usual proportions. And to finally make the best out of all the unfortunate events, we had nydc's Big O for dessert and loads of TLC as extra icing.

Guess the moral of the story -Don't leave home without your hp. Dating Life is really much more complicated nowadays as compared to the kampung days.
PS: I hate DG MRT station so much now.

**Lucky Draw prize from SSU Sports bash!**
Today, Kelvin and I won a LCD screen through a lucky draw at our school bash. We didn't even think that we would be going to the bash but somehow we landed up there after some coaxing from Jeremy. We were a little hesitant in going for the bash because at that juncture, the event was about to close in less than 15 minutes time. Somehow, we decided to go for the event and just have a few drinks to chill. The counter person almost forgot to ask me to fill up my particulars for the lucky draw until I caught sight of a bowl of coupon stubs. I asked to participate in it and wrote down our names on separate coupons. When it came to announcing the winner, the host actually skipped 2 names as the 'winners' were nowhere to be found. With a third pick, the host shouted 'And it's....Miss Serene Lim!' It was unbelievable. I didn't even expect to win and what's more to find myself at the party barely even warmed up yet. hahaha! Anyway, it was such an unexpected surprise. I even won myself some gelare vouchers too! And I'm so glad Kel and Jeremy was there to share with me. Kel said that I'm blessed. I think we both are. We plan to sell the LCD screen and get some money from it to put into our holiday fund. So exciting! The rest of the night was spent swooning over hot guy strippers on stage. They were absolutely fucking hot with those rippling muscles and sexy moves. Thanks km for letting me enjoy myself with some other gfs from SMU. heehee. Km's mantra is 'free what, look lor!'. And so I happily feasted my eyes on them.

//
This is my Xin. ; p

SMU Open House / Undergrad Admissions 2007 Campaign

2007-04-16T04:10:00.000+08:00

Just for narcissistic purposes.
Silly if you ask me.

(some) Memoirs of YMCA Uni-Y Camp last December

2007-04-16T03:37:00.000+08:00

The flying fox

Subduing their inner fear of heights at wall climbing

My best friend with her beneficiary

The campfire that all the kids been waiting for

The disco campfire (with all sorts of techno songs by LYC)

Czar

2007-04-13T02:45:00.000+08:00

Re-worked on this image using my new Rig.
Shot in Oct 2006

[Muzik of the week] Late Night Alumni - Beautiful

2007-04-09T02:27:00.000+08:00

You're currently listening to:

Late Night Alumni - Empty Streets

[Muzik of the week] is a little project of this blog to showcase the non-commercial non-mainstream muzikal world which RIAA has been shielding the world from. Undoubtly also called "Saving the World, One song at a time" project, [Muzik of the week] is updated on every monday after 12:00am (GMT + 8hrs)

すみません (Jap: Sumimasen!)

2007-04-08T21:16:00.000+08:00

My deepest apologies dear everyone for the lack of updates ever since. Really been quite busy these days -- busy dating that is. ; p

Am now rushing work like nobody's business akin to a headless chicken while waiting for Xin to arrive at my place to go kaikai.

But first and foremost, I want to thank the so many of you for all your well wishes and congratulations. Seriously, I've never received THAT many well wishes ever in my life, and up to today almost a month later, they are still coming in! (Someone even said its almost akin to a wedding ceremony -- embarrassingly). Xin and I are really deeply touched by all the support and encouragement that we are quite speechless actually. : )

Not much pictures this time round, but here's one of those rare ones that we have taken during our last Starrynite together, Starrynight v5 on 2 Fridays ago.

Us with our dear bludder Jeremy, our Matchmaker Pans and her (Sushi) Don, mad ger Winlin and most eligible bachelor ever -- Danny @ Starrynight v5

: )

2007-03-26T02:57:00.000+08:00

The unexpected girl who melted me to liquid bits : )