Something about that helium induced voices.....

There is something about that particular group of helium induced voices... Ok, actually it's not helium induced, but well, when you first listen it really sound like it... It's a method of recording technique where you record normal talking in half the normal speed, and then playback in normal mode, creating a full octave higher pitch and... we got The Chipmunk sound!!Apparently some well known singer did that in one of his recording as well... Hmmm... Things you get to know about in wiki... :D

Yup, I was talking about The Chipmunks... Someone decided do a new movie with CGI chipmunks! They have even jazzed up the old "Chipmunk Song" as well as "Witch Doctor" with the more modern hip-hop versions. Now, even if hip-hop is not your cup of tea, it still quite a dance track. I had to say, I bought the soundtrack even before I watch the movie... Maybe it's a throw back to my teenager days where they had quite a couple of albums and a TV cartoon show; although I have to say I did not have any of those albums... Hmmm....

Since most of their albums are not easily available here.... and my boss is going back to his hometown (US) for holidays... It's online shopping time at Amazon!!! Hehehehe.... Yes, I tend to order some DVDs/CDs/stuff and get him to bring it back when he is on holidays in US. Infact, if I know anyone who is going there, I most probably would have got them to bring some stuff back (which Tehpeng & Miz Snooze could attest to it... Hehehehe). Hey, some are really impossible to get here, like the Shure e2c IEM's foams (large size), it's impossible to get it anywhere here. I have checked with Jaben Network, Stereo Equipment, Hung Brothers and other shops that I know do sell this IEM, and none of them has the foam (sometimes I wonder if I had not done my homework that well enough to be smart about the accessories... Sigh...)!!!! So, I had to order it from Amazon.... I am sure there are some other online stores that might be cheaper, I think but I guess I have been very comfortable in ordering from Amazon...

Anyway, if you are a fan of those voices, or wanting some mindless, with a bit of humor, movie to watch... You could try to catch this... It is not a must-see movie, but well, I have to say I still enjoyed it... Then again I did enjoy Bride & Prejudice which my friends were slamming it for being stereotyping... I guess you can't win them all...

"Mo Wong Koong"

Ok, the title happens because my mother has just step into the plane and heading toward Chongqing this evening (with my aunt)... So I am basically "free" - "no govt" (direct translation from the Cantonese dialect...

Got permission from Boss to leave office early (but then log back into office network to download emails after reaching home - just to make sure nothing went hay wired after I left), and picked her up as well as my aunt before heading for airport.

I have to say, it's kind of weird to be doing this as most of the time, it was her who does the sending and I did the traveling. I never knew I am that naggy till today... I practically nagged at her and aunt to make sure they take care of themselves, make sure they got their passport and their return flight tickets (No guide following them there as there were only about 11 of them, so they were on their own), make sure my aunt remembers to take care of her bag, and not to drop important stuff like air ticket (like her wallet went missing in Melbourne a few months ago), and before that nag at mother to make sure she brings enough winter wear since she does not like cold weather and does not do very well in them. Heck, I even brought her to the Winter Time store at Vivocity to get long johns and other stuff she needs... I literally pass all my socks, sweaters, whatever which I used when I travel to places in winter season. Interestingly, her bag is still lighter than my aunt's, who by the way, had travel all over the world and to different seasons. Talking about that, I did "remind" them to make sure the luggage is loaded and locked into the bus's luggage area before boarding the bus.

Oh well, hopefully they have a good time and mother would have learn how to use the Canon P&S cam well enough to be confident in using it...

Where they went you ask... Well, they decided, 2 weeks ago, to go on this Chan Brothers' 6DAYS 3 GORGES + WUHAN (CN6DG) tour. So, by the end of this tour, she has actually did better than me - she had gone on a holiday cruise!!!!

Finally.... It arrives...

After waiting for 3 months, instead of the 6 weeks as quoted by the seller... My newest gadget at my home (DLink DNS-323) has arrived. I had actually paid for this in the last PC show (Commex) in Sept, and was told that I will have to wait for 6 weeks (stock ran out early)... Well, from 6 weeks it became 3 months... After 6 weeks, you get some threads in Hardwarezone forum with people asking if anyone got their goods...

If it has not been those who kept track and posted in the forum, I wonder how long they will take before calling me (they had promised to call when it arrives, since they were asking for contact numbers then). Went down today, as some of them wrote in the forum that stock has arrived... Got there, walked in, and ask... "Has DLink DNS-323 arrive?"... "Yes, yesterday..." and then proceed to grab one and place it at counter (while the other person writing on the receipt that I collected it), and I ask why there was no call to inform... Sheepish reply that "stock only arrive yesterday"... Yes, it arrive yesterday, so by this morning, we should be getting calls - No?!?

Anyway... It's now set up time... So I guess, I will be busy setting this up...

Wonder: If they did not call by Thursday and there were no news of collection... Could I make a police report for fraud/cheat case as they got stock for Sitex, but no stock for those who paid for it during the last show??

2 more days to.....

I believe that I did blog about wanting to dine at Kaisen in one of my previous entry... Well, before I got that chance, I have heard that the chef has left and open his own shop in town (from a food blogger who is big on Japanese food, pointedly on sushi and sashimi). Well, the countdown has started, and in 2 days time, I will be dinning in Tomo Dining and get to experience what she has been raving about... I just can't wait... Drool...

I can still remember my first encounter with Japanese food, it was not a very good experience mind you... In fact, I hated the taste of the meal - it all tasted the same to me, which is the miso taste. I have to say this, I hate the taste of miso, and I am not sure why, especially now that I have tasted so many different types of Japanese food, that at that time, all I could taste from the food, was just plain miso. Puts me off immediately, and from then, I never did touch Japanese food anymore. Oh, and I still don't like anything with miso, which is why I don't drink the miso soup that comes with the bento sets...

Fortunate, well depending on how you look at it - it could be unfortunate on my bank account considering the $$$ you have to pay for a quality meal, I was re-introduced into it by accident, in an unexpected place. It was only till my stay in Brisbane, on a short trip to Gold Coast with a few friends, and was hunting for food to eat. Now, do note that this was eons ago, and well, it was a different time and place from today - today, Gold Coast is literally littered with lots of Japanese Restaurants. Back then, it was more like small scale, "food-court" like type of setting, and very suitable for student's budget! Needless to say, I was hooked since that day. Of course, when I started working, then I got to know more about the cuisine as well as the quality of it... Heh...

But.... With this meal, and tomorrow's family dinner at Asia Grand (and Christmas is just round the corner), haiz... there goes my waist line...

Album Artworks & iTunes

Ok, I acknowledge that I finally bought the iPod, instead of another branded mp3 player... But along came with it is iTunes. Now to some iTunes is "god-send" while to others it's a nightmare... and I am sort of in between but nearing to nightmare... While Apple prefer people to use their AAC format, I am still a mp3 person, fro want of compatibility. Of course, for the higher-end mp3 player this is not an issue, but well, AAC is just too exclusive...

Next, they open the mind to the idea of cover art - or album artwork. They have this cover-flow thingy and well, it does look good if you have the cover of the album in there... Now if you are happy with the program placing the artwork within the mp3 track (which majority seems to like as they say it can be used not only by iTunes but also other players like wmp), I for one, would not want to increase the size of every song in which I have the entire album tracks in the folder. However, try as I may, there is no way currently that I know of that would take in the artwork into the iTunes database and not importing to the track itself. The only way iTunes would do that is if it gets downloaded from its store!!!! Now what happens if you are not in a country which iTune store is open... You can't even register with iTunes store just for the sake of getting album artwork... Really in convenient and I am still at wits on how to get this done.... Been searching the internet via the trusty Google search... Nothing!!!

Found a product call iTSfv, which in the features it says that it does import artwork without embedding it, but so far, i have found no instructions on how to do that... Read all forum pages that mention this product but zilch...

Haiz...





On a far more happy note... Congrats to TehPeng and miz snooze on their new born baby - nat... I still can't figure out who he takes after... At a glance it's the father... but yet another look, it's the mother... oh well... Maybe that's a good thing :P

Not a very good blogger what.... Oh, and 881

Yes... Missing in action from here for awhile... Which goes to show I have not traveled any more, well, at least to bloggable places (with photos)... :D Has not been doing much other than work... How nice that the drought of no public holidays has finally ended... Hari Raya was just over, and we are getting another holiday next month.. Yipee!! Hey, once you started to work, you tend to look forward to these days... You might not have anything to do on that day, but at least you are not working... No? Wait till you have work for awhile... I am not kidding... I have not heard anyone grumbles about public holidays... Well, unless you are workaholic, then you might just work from home on those days...

So... What did you do on that day? Me? Not sure what I did for the morning but... I finally caught 881 on the big screen, and... it was because my mum wanted to watch it. Yup, she was harping about the cinema is only has 1 show on sat, etc... So in the end, promised her that I would watch it with her... Not that I don't want to watch it, but, well, I just realised that I am no longer that enthusiastic about catching a movie... It's true, I even missed the Bourne Ultimatum when it was screened... I had already watched the other parts of that Trilogy (I assumed it;s trilogy, based on the books, but who knows what they might come up with), just did not get that chance or made the effort, I supposed, when it was screened. By the time I got around it, it was like 881, where only 1 show per day... I did managed to catch Hair Spray (and John Travolta was hilarious; I cannot believe James Marsden could sing!!!)

Ok... before I proceed, if you have not watch 881 (which I doubt) and would not want to know too much of it as you want to get the VCD/DVD/whatever form... Then don't read, but seriously... I think I was the last to watch it...

I have mixed view on 881. It's kind of corny in some parts, I mean, rattling out all once popular song names to plead with the "goddess" was really corny, but hilarious (My mother was wondering why I was laughing away during that scene). Then all the "special effects" coming out of a durian shell-like bra is - wonder why there where no such dressing for the papaya sisters??!? Hmmm... One of the mysteries of the show, I supposed, or, it does not look nice with papaya as compared to durian?!?!? Madonna must have been proud that someone took her cone-shaped bra of her not-so-long-ago wardrobe, and transform it to this... Bet she is not happy that she did not think of those light effects... :P

Ok, the cancer on the younger one, it gets to me, I did shed a little tear, here and there... But I like that last portion of the "last days"... Singing the song, and revolving round and round, and showing the effects of chemotherapy and showing how weaker she became and till she died... That I find is a nice way to effect the changes... and to bring the story to an end, although the start and end seems abrupt... and loads of Hokkien songs in between. Did anyone noticed that it's all sad songs? All about hard life, and how bad it was, etc... Not sure why, but that's all I hear in the show; wonder if it's the same in actual life. I am certain it must have, but yet, I am rather mystified by it. Why would anyone still want to listen to those type of songs, especially in that month!!!

Finally, did anyone catch why it's 881? Is there some significant about that number? Must have let that slip somewhere... Of course there are more, but nevermind... However, for just to sake of trying to figure out how many song titles were exactly in that long plead... I might just get the DVD and replay that again and again till I get all of them.... :P

Hmmm... Enchanted seems like a hilarious one as well, based on the trailer... But, I am certain, by the time I get round to a decision, it would have been gone as well... Oh, such is my life...

Paris... After 10 years....

Wow... To think it has been 10 years since I visited Paris. So what has changed and what has not... Well, for certain, the last trip I did, it was not the summer season, it was in Sept apparently (after checking my previous passport), therefore I had not seen so many tourists during that time. In this trip, almost everywhere I go, I could hear English being spoken (other than French, of course)! That was the very first change that I noticed.

I remember back then, the only people who are willing to try to speak (but rather badly) was the person at the ticket station. I also remember asking them "Parlez-vous anglais" which basically means "Do you speak English" and getting a "Non", which is "No". So I had to try to adapt and it was a trying period as all around me was just French and I don't understand most of it... This time round, most of them could speak a little (or perhaps they are more willing to speak). However, there wasn't any need, except, perhaps at the airport...

Flew in from Helsinki, and arrived at Terminal 2 of the Paris CDG airport. Was a little lost inside the terminal, especially trying to find the baggage area. The baggage carousel was in the shape of a "W" (or "M", cannot remember the orientation, since it was like a month since the trip). Had to find "free" space to stand and wait... It took a while before the bags ever arrive at the carousel... Finally spotted my bag, collected it, and then... lost again... Had to figure out where I was, at the exit, and where to go to get to the hotel.

I booked a room at the Hotel Ibis in CDG airport, it was situated at Terminal 3, opposite the Novatel CDG Hotel. It cost me 71 Euro and 7 Euro for breakfast. The first room allocated, the door refuses to open... Had to go downstairs to change to another room, which happens to be a few doors away. The room was ok, with a king size bed, and a small bathroom. More than enough for me, since I would not be staying much in the room, except to sleep at night...

Once settled down, which by the way, was almost 2 hours since I landed in Paris. I headed out to Sacre Cour. However, hunger pangs strike and had some sandwich at the Gard du Nord station since I had to change to metro from there, before carrying on with the journey. Had this huge sandwich filled with Ham, which reminded me of the Spanish Iberico ham, but it was not as tasty as I would like it to be, especially since it was rather dry...

Anyway, when I reached the train station, I realised that I could never go wrong in getting down that station as it was basically filled with tourists! I literally could bump into tourists from different countries on the short walk to the Basilica! Blame it on my last visit, but I was rather unprepared to face so many people at that area. Imagine my surprise, and a little discomfort, as I am, still, a little claustrophobic since 1994 due to my year in Qld. (Yes, despite the years had passed and Sg is rather populated with people as well) So, if you were to look at some of my other photos, you will find people, and more people at the Basilica, and the area surrounding it.

The only shot of view from Sacre Cour (of Paris). The others, well, will see.

By then, my calf muscles were a little tired but the though of getting some shots of Paris from the dome was too tempting to skip. So, I paid 5 Euro, started my climb up the stairs to the dome. As with most cathedrals, the stairs from umpteen year ago, tend to be small, and it's a long climb from the bottom to the top. Had to stop and catch my breath, as well as letting my legs to rest, at different parts of the entire journey... Good to know that I am not the only one that was finding this rather hard to finish... Was it all worth the climb... Well, yes and no... Yes, because you have quite a magnificent view of Paris 360°; however, I think it was this climb that aggravated the sored left heel and thus making me limp my way around Paris after that.

Taken quite a couple of shots, saw the view, and then it's time to climb down... As usual, it's easier to climb down than to climb up be it stairs/road/etc. By the end of it, all I wanted was a nice cold drink and yet it took me a walk down the street before getting a bottle. So what's next? Well, I had thought it would occupy most of my time, but with the crowd, it was impossible. So, consulted the metro/RER map and decided to head toward Arc de Triomphe. Took a couple of shots there, but the traffic was rather busy, so decided not to cross it, instead head toward Champs Élysées where Macs was - the only place I know that has toliets and we have access to them!!! Was not willing to try those public toliets which may open after a certain timing!!! Had a nice cold Ice Lemon Tea, and headed out to Eiffel Tower.

The queue at Eiffel Tower was long, really long. Since I had gone up the tower in my previous trip, I decided not to join the queue, and instead, spend some time at Champ de Mar, taking shots of the Eiffel tower (in IR as well). Then though of heading out to Notre Dame Cathedral for some shots but...

Apparently, there were some repair construction along the RER C line, between Invalides and Gare d'Austerlitz station. So, by taking the train from Champ de Mar Tour Eiffel station heading to St-Michel Notre-Dame station, was told at the Invalides station that it is the last station and to carry on the journey, we had to head toward this place where a bus will take us to the Gare d'Austerlitz station, and would stop near the other RER C stations that were closed. So, we were herd to outside of the station, following the yellow footsteps which has some words on it, and arriving at a place near the station exit. However, the number of passengers waiting for the bus were rather large and the frequency of the bus were rather long (waited for 10 mins and yet not a single bus). Decided not to carry on waiting, and by consulting the map, thought it was rather near. Boy was I mistaken!

It turns out that I was nearer to the Place de la Concorde than Notre Dame... Thot I could head toward the entrance to the metro and then take it to Notre Dame, except that I was rather lost as the signage to the metro are lacking. Headed back toward Assemblée Nationale and ask the police guard where the nearest metro was... How embarrassing, but the metro was just slight more than 100 metres away from where he stand...

By the time I got to Notre Dame, I was hungry and decided to skip it and search for food... There were some pubs, cafes around, but I could not figure out where to eat... Stumbled into one of the hotels (apartment style type of hotel it turns out to be) and ask for some recommendation.

Followed the instructions and arrived at the restaurant - which escapes me at this point of time. I have the map given by the hotel, but don't have it at the moment. Anyway, it was quite a good meal, though I would like my beef to be done correctly, somehow the roast did not turn out correctly cooked - medium was my choice. However, it was tender and was nicely marinated, so that deflect a little of the disappointment. Interestingly, sat next to an American lady and her 2 daughters. They were there for a few days, coming from Zurich via TGV train (or was it TER? Whatever). They had visited relatives in Germany as well as Switzerland. One of her daughters were learning French at school, so thought it would be great to visit Paris since they were already heading that way. We had this interesting conversation on our view on how Paris has changed. Apparently she was, like me, visited Paris years ago, and found that there are changes from those days and now. By the time I finished dinner and left the restaurant, it was almost 10pm. Time to head back to hotel...

Most of the hotels that I had stayed had baggage storage facility, so I naturally assumed that this hotel does as well. Woke up rather late, had breakfast at 9am and then wanted to find out about the baggage storage and how it works... Well, apparently, this hotel does not have this facility!!! They told me that it's available in the airport. However, I remembered that I had read in the airport website that they no longer has this facility as well. Horrifying thoughts were coming to my mind on how am I going to store the bags till my flight which only happening at 11.45pm!!!

So, since they insisted that it's available in the airport, so I paid a trip to Terminal 2 of the airport. Ask the staff and found that there is a company which is located at the end of the airport at Terminal 2A - I was at Terminal 2D! Walked all the way to the correct terminal and finally found it... Saw the prices and the collection time (they close by 7pm!) and walked all the way back to the automatic train station to get back to the hotel, to take my luggage and check out. Once done, I was back at Terminal 2D, and then commence my long walk, pullung a heavy luggage behind me and my cam bag on my back.

Immediately after reaching Terminal 2A, I saw terminal was in the process of being cleared!!!! I had only another 4 gates to go before reaching the desk.... ARGH!!! It was a case of "so near, yet so far"!!!! I had no idea what was happening, there were police and (what looks like) SWAT team around the terminal, and this police guy kept yelling something in French (like most people at the airport would know what it means!!!! Come on, it's the airport and most people here would be tourists and you think everyone would know French!??!?!) As I stopped right in front of him, he kept waving his hand and yelling something, and expect me to response. Well, of course I could only looked at him with this "what you talking/yelling" look on my face... Think he was getting edge since I was not moving, but then again, how on earth I know what he is yelling?!??! Then there was someone who on the side says that they are closing the terminal.... What?!?!?! Till today, I am not certain why, but according to the baggage store person, it could be that there was a bag that was lying around and no one claims it. They had to blow it up!

Not my day! So I had to consult the map of the airport again, and found that there is another desk of the same company, but..... it's at the other end of the terminal!!!! So, I had to drag that heavy luggage bag of mine, with a rather heavy backpack (due to the different lens I had brought) on my back from Terminal 2A all the way to Terminal 2E (or was it 2F, whatever, it's the other end...) and after much huff and puff, got the baggage storage company!!!!

By then, I was totally exhausted, and out of breath.... The person was rather amused and told me to take my time.... Had to spend the next 20 mins to recover enough, to get the details worked out and done with.... by then, it was almost 1 pm!!! I had spend the entire morning at the airport, trying to get my luggage stored!!!

Once that was settled, it was time to head toward the RER train and onwards to Chateau Versaille. I had actually stopped at the station and ask the station office how I should get there... Get this... The person there does not even seem to know that there were RER C stations closed!!!! He had insisted that I could just take the train directly to St-Michel Notre-Dame and change to the RER C line. Tried to reconfirm that with him, telling him that I had been to those stations and they were closed and he insisted it was not! Fine. I don't think I want to waste time to argue with him, and I know it is closed - since it's only reopening those few stations late Aug or early Sept. So I just went the way I think is the quickest way. Well, I reached Versaille at around 2.15 pm. By then, I was hungry and was looking for a toilet as well. Good old Macs came to rescue - but had to queue for the toilet as there were just too many people there... Grab the 9 piece nuggets and started to walked toward the Chateau. Had a detour to find out that weekdays we do not need tickets to walk the grounds. If I had reach there earlier, like in the morning, I might have bought tickets to visit the rooms, but since I had only about 3 hours before I had to head back (so to claim my luggage before they close!), it was prudent that I should not waste money on the tickets. Boy was I right! The queue to enter the rooms were long!

So I wander around the huge grounds of Chateau Versaille, taking opportunity to try out some IR shots as well... Stopping to rest my tired, aching feet along the way.... And get some drinks to replace the water I lost.....

The Versaille in IR! Somewhere in the gardens.

Can't remember this garden, but this is the only one that is symmetric.

Since there were so many statues there, started to take shots of the statue in wide angle lens.... Here's how it looks....

There is another landscape shot of this which is also quite nice, but is not included here, since it's the same statue... Just different wide angle shot.

I like this shot a lot because of the reflection of the sky on the fountain water...

Thought the rest of the day was smooth? well, not really, since it took a lot longer to get back to the airport, and it's a good thing I caught the earlier train... I had arrive back at the airport a little later than the time I stated - stated 6.45pm, but I only reached the CDG RER station at 6.45pm. Had to do a quick walk (and short run) to the other end and by the time I got there, it was nearly 7pm. Thank goodness there was a couple who was also later in getting there... Phew... Once got the luggage, packed everything, and place the laptop back into the backpack. Check-in!

It's a good thing I checked-in early... I was able to get quite a good seat with lots of leg room in front of me (since my was the first aisle seat in that row...) Once the luggage is in, time for dinner.... Except that... Well, most places close early at the airport... Nevermind that the flights were as late as 11.45pm, the shops, cafes (other than macs!!!) open till about 8pm. Sigh... Where to eat... So, with not much of a choice, time to head toward Sheraton hotel, which happens to be in the middle of Terminal 2. Good thing too, they had restaurant that would open till late... The food was quite ok, but by then, I was too tired to even finish most of the food (Bad choice of choosing a set meal...)

By the time I finished and pay up, it was after 10pm... Oops... Time for a quick (again!) walk to the correct terminal and get myself pass the immigration... Thank goodness it was a quick one, and by then, the gate was filled with people, waiting to get onboard... Heard some luggage lost (horror) stories from some of the passengers and made me felt better that I had not came over via CDG for I might be facing the issue of my luggage getting lost somewhere in CDG airport!!!! That would not be a good way to start the travel!

Slept most of the flight time due to the tiredness I felt by the end of the day... And my left heel was hurting like mad!!!

Boy.. what a trip!

* Next time, will make sure I ask about baggage storage before booking the hotel...

Photos... Finally....

Right... Photos of my Helsinki/Paris trip has finally been loaded... Ran out of space in Flickr (ok, me cheapo, dun want to pay...), so I had to spend some time figure what to do next...

Anyway... Here they are....

This is the other side of the station where the first Holiday Inn hotel was at....

This is somewhere near the train station, at the end of the botanical gardens, facing one of the many lakes (I think) area Helsinki.

While walking around the botanical gardens (before we hit the above area), saw lots of seagulls around... Managed to get this shot that is not too bad...

Alexander Czar II statue at Senate Sq. This square is supposedly the most photographed and easily recognised place in Helsinki. The Finnish restaurant is just opposite this place.

Statue fountain just next to Market Square. This area is where the tram stops. There is also another tram (it's a pub tram!) that stops here as well.

This is one of the Orthodox churches found in Helsinki, and it's the "prettiest" with its golden domes. It's very near to Market Square, thus you can see the domes from Market Square.

This is the interior of the "Rock" church. The church was built somewhere around 1969, and it's a very popular spot with tourist as it's a church that is built with rocks that were naturally there. The acoustic of the church is quite good too, especially for the pipe organ!

A closer look at the wall... with the lilted candles in front of it...

The only underwater shot that is clear... This is SweetLips according to the labels. Somehow it's very difficult to take pictures in the Underwater Museum in Helsinki. It's just next to the amusement park!

Swaying Daisies (I think it's Daisies) along the coast of Suomenlinna Fortress Island, blown by the slightly cold Baltic wind. Pity that it was a cloudy, slight drizzle day we chose to visit the island...

Old canon wheel abandon at Suomenlinna Fotress Island.

Paris photos to follow....

Back....

Been back for a week... Had to recover from this trip (and paid extra $200) - was limping badly when the plane landed at Changi Airport... Despite the rest from the 12 hour flight, the calf muscles (on both legs) was still stiff and the heel (not sure what that area is called) on the left foot was in serious pain. Had to see a chiropractor for some deep tissue therapy (although my mother would have said "go to the TCM guy, no need to pay so much!!!") Anyway... How was the trip as everyone asked...

It was ok... I supposed. As with the last blog posting, had interesting 1st day, whereby I was in some airport that I had not intended to be in... On the hind sight, it was a good thing. Anyway, Arrived at Helsinki's Vantaa airport, got a bit lost in terms of how and where to get transport to the hotel (yeah, I can get a bit off at times, especially with less sleep than usual). Hey, how was I supposed to know there are 2 different Holiday Inn hotels that is near the train station?!?!?! Heck, one of them was just next to the train station building (not the one I was to stay)... So I thought, hey that was easy, 5.20 Euro for a bus ride, sounds good - NOT! Turns out it was the wrong hotel and I had to take a taxi to the other one which cost 12.80 Euro... What a "fun" way to start the trip...

Anyway, finally arrive safely at hotel, checked-in and rested, before my colleagues arrive too. Was a mild evening after the "excitement"... Had my first experience of somewhat "midnight sun", whereby it was still bright at 10 pm and the sun finally set at 12 midnight. I heard sun rise was at 3.30am, but never did witness that (I want my sleep - it's more important that waiting for sunrise at unearthly hours!)

The next few days was spent at office, having training, while taking the opportunity of long daylight to visit the city centre and looking for dinner there. Had some Finnish cuisine, including reindeer fillet and elk sausages and superb mushroom soup as well as salmon soup. I believe the salmon soup is one of the more popular soup there as I can see them selling it everywhere, including the office cafeteria. In fact, it was there which I had my first taste of it. It can be a meal of its own as it not only consist of salmon meat, it also has potatoes in them. Take it with bread; there you have it, a meal of its own... I have to say the cafeteria food is good, not overly superb but it's good enough to be looking forward for my next lunch there... In fact one of my staple diet was the potatoes... Now these potatoes are not the usual potatoes you see in SG, it's also not those US Russell Burbank type, instead these are those slightly magenta colour skin type of potatoes and it was marvellous, eaten on its own or with the sauces that accompanies the main course...

On one of the nights at the hotel, it seems that the main generator broke down and we did not have electricity for a long time. I had a unscheduled visitor to my room at around midnight - and apparently the person took my room card that was in the card holder (for those who does not know... you need to place your card in order for your lights to work). I was actually in bed trying to get some sleep and the curtain was pulled tight (so that I don't get light at 3.30am and thus unable to sleep further, I had this biological alarm clock that sometimes mistaken light for the correct timing...). Once I heard the door opens (they did not have those door chain latch to prevent forced opening), I immediately got up (without my glasses) and the person apparently saw me and apologised and got out... By the time I got my glasses on, and open the door to check and see if I catch a glimpse of who it was, the fellow disappeared... Locked the door, went back to sleep and then next day, discover the card was missing and had to improvised... Went to the counter, they apologised (blaming on the blackout whereby they did not have the computer to check on what room was available, etc) and gave me a new card with a new lock code.

So how's Helsinki... Well, I can only say that it reminded me a little of the German city - Mannheim. Somehow the buildings in Europe (not those super old cities like Paris, that has superb old architectural buildings which is breath-taking) seems to be very similar. It's rather squarish, dull white/silver in colour. However, there are some splatter of old buildings, like those in Senate Square, or churches with some Russian Orthodox influences. Of course there is another church (which seems to be a huge tourist spot) where it was built in 1960s and the walls are actually rocks formed on a small hill. Interestingly the church has quite good acoustic, especially for pipe organs.

Weekend came and training was over. We were free to embark on our next journey - 3 days of walking and taking in the view of Helsinki. I had actually ask a Finnish colleague on what to do for 3 days, and he recommended to go for the Archipelago Ring Road trip. This was vetoed by my colleagues and they preferred to stay in Helsinki instead... So, we walked around the city centre, took tram rides, walk to different places as recommended on the wiki and other travel sites - did not go to the amusement park, neither did we visit any of the 50 (I think) museums. Visited the Suomenlinna sea fortress which faces the Baltic Sea...

Next thing I know, it was time to leave Helsinki for my next part of the journey - Paris, where I would spent 1 and half day there before flying back...

You would think that I would have been done with "fun" experiences on this trip... Well...

Will blog more on this - in the next post...

* And you would think after so much of travelling, you have seen it all.... Then again, looks like that's not the case....

Interesting 1st Day Travel...

Currently I am sitting Amsterdam Schiphol Airport typing this blog at 6:52am local time... Does it matter? Well, not really since I am waiting for my flight to Helsinki which only fly out at 10:20 am... But I was supposed to be waiting for the connecting flight in Paris's CDG, not Amsterdam's Schiphol airport!! What happened? Well, apparently AirFrance flight got delayed for 11 hours due to technical reasons, so apparently I got a voice mail, left at 3.15pm, with a strong accent saying that the flight has been delayed and with the new flight details I would be arriving at Helsinki at 11pm and I was to go to office to start on the next day... By the time I heard the voice mail, I was at a pit stop (at Daily Scoop for my regular waffle with ice cream treat) before heading the airport.

Decided to go ahead and head out to the airport and see what else is there. When I reached there, there was already queue at the AirFrance counter and they were busy either re-routing the passengers or giving them accomodation for the night... So I joined the queue and managed to get on another flight, but flying via Amsterdam courtesy of KLM instead. I thought I might get the SQ flight but well, the person who did the transfer was from KLM and since they got seats, they gave me that instead (KLM and AirFrance is, together with NW, in this frequent flying group known as Flying Blue (or something to that name).

What makes it more interesting is that well, despite taking off belt and pouch and all, the scanner stills beep at the airport while going through custom/immigration on my way to the next gate. We had to do this as this is a connecting flight within Europe which usually means we will not be checked again at the destination airport, so we have to get our immigration done before flying three. So, instead of the normal check with a portable scanner like what we see in Changi Airport, I got frisked. I have to say it's an experience - had never got frisked like that before...

So, now is to wait for another, what, slightly more than 2 hours before the next flight and to destination....

At least there is the internet, although it cost 16 Euro for 24 hours... Charged to company account since I got to read my emails and set up my outlook to say I am not going to be in office for the next 10 days...

Till the next blog... Let's just enjoy the view of KLM air planes around me with the sun beaming into my eyes at an angle...

Interesting fun...DNA

Packing my cam bag (yup for my trip tmr) and read blogs... Found this from Shutterbug's blog... Thot it's fun to try it... Hehehe... So here's the result...





The actual report from here.

Ok... Back to packing...

I hate moving

Today is the last day at my office desk, after almost 4 years... After months of speculation, the powers to be decided that my group must move down to a smaller unit area and the other group, due to their expansion, is to move up to our area. As one of them moving up said - "After spending time in hell, we are moving to heaven. You guys enjoyed too much, so now you move down to hell."

The reason for such comment was because the unit below has a very small area size, about half the size of the unit I was in. That group decided that they need more space as there were not enough space for them to place everyone and their group has expanded. Whereas my group has not expanded that much and the other group on my same level and unit (yes, we share the same area despite in different groups) have actually shrunk.

So, it has been madness these few days, people are coming up to the same and making lots of noises and making the area, which can be a very quiet place at times, into like a market place. They were rather eager to find out the layout and where they would be occupying...

I don't think my group was happy about it as we are losing space but well, we can't fight the inevitable... So for the past few days we see people packing and joisting for a better seat in the other level. For me, since I have not really "inhabit" my desk - I had only 2 boxes - 1 small box with another even smaller than the 1st box.

Maybe because this is already my 3rd job since I started working, I felt that there is no point of placing so many stuff at my cubicle, so much so that I would have issues packing when I leave. Therefore, you will not find anything that would identify my desk other than the name piece which everyone has (with their names pasted on it) somewhere around their desk.

I only had 1 small request - to be placed somewhere where my back face the wall/high cubicle separator (and got it granted). Not too sure how it started but I have always been sitting with the wall behind me since my 2nd job. In my 1st job I was not even in office for most of the time, since I was working on projects at customer sites, which some of the locations where I do have the wall to my back... I think I only at a time of less than 1 year without such sitting arrangement in my 2nd job as I quit after that. Maybe that's one of my work quirks which was picked up along the way....

Anyway, I will not get to sit in the new place since I will be away from office for the next 2 weeks. Let see if I would be pressing the old level button when I get back to office... I have a feeling I just might do that, especially if on that day I was in a very "blur" state in the morning...

Sigh... Will have to unpack when I get back... That would be half a day gone by the time I finished?!?!? Will see...

Mother: Is back facing the wall not very good??!?!?
Me: Why?
Mother: Dunno, I thought it was perceived as not a good omen....
Me: Huh? Why would that be? Anyway, I like that kind of location - no one peeping over my shoulders!!!

Oh... It has been a long time.... Oops...

Wow... It has been awhile since my last entry... Busy, but don't ask what I have been doing - I really have no idea... I only know that I can no longer hide my white hairs! (Not sure if this was already mentioned previously; Think not... Sigh, yes, I can see it plainly when I face the mirror, some even sticking out like a sore thumb...)

So, to sum up what has happen since the last entry... Not that most people are interested but for record (hmm... What record!??!? Nevermind...)

Did batch process on the Cambodia photos and burn it to DVD and got out of my hands so that people will not run after me for it. If I have time I am certain I might revisit them... That is if I get the new external HDD storage that I have been eye since... Oops, that reminds me, need to email some of the photos off to someone. Will do that after this...

Spurge on a new iPod Video 80GB during the PC Show (or was it IT Show? Whatever, 4 shows in 1 year, and this is the June one). What more can I say, this is spurge year! (More to come, since I will be in Finland - more on that later) Spend the nights ripping my DVDs to store in iPod, and transfering those mp3s which I ripped from my CDs into the old Creative Zen Micro to this brand new iPod which came in very handy in my last week sudden trip to KL. So, with this and the UE super.fi 5Pro IEM (Yes, I bought them this year as well... See! Spurge year!!!), I should not be looking in this direction for the next 4 years (hopefully!)

Yes, been flying to KL lately... This time round would have been avoidable if the person who took the notes were paying attention!!! They got 1 password wrong and did not even bother to cross check, and because of that, the installation (at one of the sites) was considered failure and they panicked... So, I had to fly there to "supervise" the installation; which I became a broken recorder, keep harping on the ppt slides that I have done and none seems to refer to it! Along the process of supervision, had to improved on the ppt as well since it looks like they need explicit details to work on (don't ask me why)... But, look on the bright side, I get to accumulate points on hotels and I think I had a break, just go there, supervise them in installation, goes for (paid) meals... Not that bad actually - rather than staying in Sg, pulling my hair out on another product... Hmm.....

Meantime, get ready for the next trip out... This time - Finland! Yeah, got a 4 days training (instead of 5 days, due to schedule of my KL colleague) This time is on the new product introduced in Asia, and was the one that I was rather frustrated on due to lack of information and reference materials! Think some of my white hairs are due to this product!!! Going to take some time off to go round Helsinki (wanted to go on this Archipelago Ring route, but colleagues decided to keep to Helsinki area). Boy, trying to get a good route with seats on flights there and back was hard!!! It took me 1 entire day to try to find routes that have seats available for this trip!!! Not that it's hard to find a seat to get there, but to get back, man... Most Europe-SG sector flights on SQ seems to be sold-out!!! Did the nonsensical method of booking a few routes, since all are like broken flights, fly out on SQ, come back on BA; or fly out on KLM, come back on SQ Business!! The travel agent got so confused that they called up - Finally got me on a good route, abide a bit ex, but then with the current situation, this is already quite acceptable! I am going on Air France via Paris-CDG to Helsinki and back - AND since there is no difference in the pricing of the tickets, I get 1 and half days in Paris!!! Yippie! Another good point is that the planes in used are all B777-300ER! So I will not have issues with seats!!! Alright!

Thinking back... I just realised that it's exactly 10 years (when I am there), since my visit to Paris. I was there for a week for training on a product when I was working in my 1st company... How time flies... But it would be good to see this place again... However, this time, my concentration will be on the Basilica of the Sacré Coeur as well as Château de Versailles. I missed out on these locations from my previous trip. So, I most probably spend the entire day on 18 in Versailles, and 17 afternoon in Paris centre and Sacré Coeur. As I am doing this, I am also checking on where to stay - think the best is to stay in the hotels near/around the airport... Remember where I stayed the last time, but that location is just too far from the airport - Massy area... Stayed there previously because it was very, very, very (walking distance) near the office.

Was checking the Paris info website... By getting there on 17 July, I just missed (not that I would like to witness it, that is) the Solidays (some concerts to raise funds to fight AIDS); Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans Pride parade; Paris Cinema (which would end with a big bang of fireworks on 14 July... Oh, 14 July is Bastille Day in France - thanks to Wiki :P ) Darn, miss out a chance to take fireworks with Eiffel Tower in the background...

So, another spending time... Hmm... I am really certain it will be back to normal after this... I am certain I will be in KL/Sg Petani in the next few months... (Cross fingers, I really cannot spend so much anymore!!! Argh!!!)

Hmm... Why did I have this CDG airport website opened in the background... What did I want to check... Shucks... I forgot what I wanted to do!! Argh... Nevermind, sure to remember it later...

Photos.... Again!?!?!?

Hmm.... More photos... But, this time... A different subject - Some of you know that my mum keeps a dog... But no one, other than family have seen it (well, unless you visit my mum's place since we got the dog...)

So finally, with the Canon IXUS 850 (Don't ask why... Just take it as that....), I was able to snap a few shots of Oreo, the Tibetan Spaniel .... :D By The way, the 2nd shot shows a little resemblance of Gremlins (Yes?!?! No?!?!?) and my favourite shot is the 3rd one.

Photos... Part II

Ok, previous blog of photos were from my D70 and these are from the brand new Canon IXUS 850. Am still learning the controls and how to take with better focus as I found that without using flash, it's kind of soft.. Not sure why...

Anyway, here they are.... (Not overly processed, just add borders)

Photos... Late but better than never (right?)

Yes, finally some photos from the Cambodia trip... Been rather busy since then and well, never really have the mood as well. I just realised that it's only like 7 photos and 2/3 of it are IR shots!

Batch ones are (finally) done, although it will not appear here as somehow, none of them appeals to me. Instead, I re-process these 7 photos... Maybe I am just not in the mood.... I am certain once I am done with feeling tired/bored, I might pick those photos up again and find some new ones to display.

I guess these will do for the moment....

IR Shots

Others

I'm Back...

Yes... Landed at 20 mins before midnight.... But, left airport at 12.30 am... Too enthusiastic about getting some wine... Meantime... Will have to start sifting thru all photos... Getting pressure to get it out ASAP! Sigh...

Trip, Camera and more...

As with most of the photos that we have seen of previous mission trips were of those when we were travelling, and not so much of the preparation part... So this evening, I took a couple of photos in one of the pre-trip meetings that we are having before the actual trip starting on 20th April - Yes, it's time to head for Cambodia again!

Today, we had SW and his wife to help with the preparation. The group learned how to make the gospel beads and one group will be getting the rest of the gospel beads done. SW demonstrated some different balloons sculpture like sword, hat, etc. He also showed how he uses the balloons to help in the gospel lesson. Some of the members of the group tried their hands on it and did quite well. Then they split into their groups to prepare for the ministry work that they would do... SW's wife was there to help with the English lessons preparations.

Was downloading the photos to my PC just now and discovered that... Yup! My cam has now hit 10k shots (yeah, the photo numbering has reverted back to 0001)! Hmmm... Not too bad, since it has taken 2 years and 5 months to get there... So, I guess that shows I don't use it as often as I should... Never mind, I am certain I would hit at least 500 more in the coming trip... Meantime, I started to try taking shots in RAW instead of JPG; wanted to see what can be done in RAW but not in JPG, and found that for RAW, a 2GB can only hold approximately 360 shots only as compared to 586 for JPG. Will have to test out more, to see if the switch is worth the amt of HDD space, especially when I am running out of HDD space...

Talking about HDD space... I am in a lookout for solutions as my internal SATA connections are fully utilised. Anyone got any suggestions? I was thinking of getting something like a NAS product so that I have a file storage system, but the prices are making me think twice... So that is still in the pipeline somewhere down the road... Meantime, I think it might be a good idea to get another 2GB CF card as a backup since I don't have any as yet.

Looks like this is a year of spending.... 2 Trips, lens, CF card, cam bag and not forgetting the new Plasma TV in Dec to start with... I hope when I start travelling for work again I would not be spending that much... Think it's the lack of activities in my travel where I don't have time to think about spending $$$$ which is allowing this to happen... Heh... Not to fear... I forsee for the next half of the year, I would be too busy with work to bother about anything else... I am dubbing the upcoming work as a blackhole since no information of those sites have been forth coming and they expect the system to go live in July!??!?! They should be happy to get it up and running by Sept! Server area is not even ready, the users are not even informed of the upcoming changes (new IT systems etc)! How to do site survey with such situation? I can only admire the way my colleague pester and pushes her way into getting things started (well, like I say, it's not physically possible for me since I am at a different geographical location....).

Meantime, because of so many sites coming at the same time, I am working on getting some powerpoint slides up to let the field engineers learn how to install and configure the system... So, this week I am basically spending all my time getting this ppt done and ensuring it's comprehensive enough for them to comprehend! To add to the pressure, this is a new product as well - Not that I have been well trained in it, although I had some experience from the last site installation that we did late last year...

Not looking forward to after the trip... I am certain it would be chaotic...

Hola!

Yes, I am back... Er, actually, I have been back since Monday afternoon, just that I had fallen sick on the final night in Spain (must have been those strong, chilly winds endured while in Cuenca), noticeably during my last dinner for the trip in Madrid... The throat started to dry up... Then the nose tap started to drip... You get the picture... Anyway, I have been trying to get the photos processed (in between sleep, due to medication, and work) and finally today it's finished... So you get this post... Heh...

So how did it go? Well, it was good... I have always love holidays and going places... While I think I still prefer a "free and easy" kind of holiday where I would spend more time at certain places, this guided tour trip has not been that bad... I think it all boils down to the tour leader/guide that you get for the trip... And it happens to be the guy who gave us the briefing (and had us in stitches due to too much laughing), so I guess we had it good...

The food, other than a couple of meals which is was better, the rest were... well... salty!!!!! I am not certain why, but according to the tour leader their food is that salty because if they don't have enough sodium in their diet, they might get lots of cramps due to the weather... I am a doubtful about it as I don't recall German food being that salty... Imagine, having a consume chicken soup tasting like salt water with some chicken taste in it...

However, some food highlight includes the Cochinillo (Suckling pig) in Segovia, which also happens to have the best Sangria I have tasted in the few places where Sangria is ordered.... The Venison steak in El Caballo Rojo restuarant, Cordoba was superb, the fish soup (with some noodle like pasta) in Cuenca was good as well, so was the (gumbo-like) seafood soup in Toledo... Yes, these dishes do taste a bit salty but not as bad as the consume chicken soup in Madrid...

Did I shop?!?!? Er... Well, I step into LV and come out empty handled, I step into Loewe and come out empty handled... I step into Massimo Dutti and came out with a small bag... I step into 2 Hard rock cafes - Madrid and Barcelona - and came out with big bags (but no, I only bought shot glasses, they only have 1 size bag!!!!) I think I bought more magnets, badges and food stuff.... So, frankly, no I did not!!!! Oh, the bag from MD? That's a belt because my mother requested for it!!!!!

Ok... Below are only samples of the photos - Please go to here to view all as I place it under a set this time...

This is the throne room in Royal Palace, Madrid


This is the most recognised place in Barcelona I think...
We may not know the exact name (like I did before),
but we definitely have seen them before...
Especially if you have seen the French movie -
L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)


I am most certain everyone will know this dish which happens to come out from Valencia...
However, I heard this seafood version is not the original dish as the original dish would have
meat like rabbit meat or escargot mixed into it, and apparently some people are repel
by the thought of eating those, so they ordered a "safer" version...

Ok, signing off for now...

Traveling...

Yes, I am now in Doha airport with a 4 hour layover on my way to Madrid... Did not really had a good flight due to lack of sleep and so far, my headache is getting to my head that I am not certain if I could sleep on the next leg of flight and chase that headache away...

No matter what, I am determined to enjoy my time in Spain and will see how it goes in terms of photos... Just tried the IR at the airport and not quite successful I think... No matter will try it again sometime during this trip....

Meantime... How to survive another 3 hours....

I am using the internet point at the airport to do this.... At least there are something like this to help....

Losing Things....

Not too sure why, but I seems to be losing a fair bit of things.... Not that it's expensive or what... Then again, it could be costly to some...

Let's see... I seems to have lost...
1) "When Harry Meet Sally" DVD - Must have lend it to someone but I have no idea who and the people I ask seems not to have it!
2) CIV 4 game - No idea where this seems to have disappeared to... I thot I have it among my discs but today (after a tiny bit of packing) I don't seems to find it.
3) 1 len rear cap (for my 50mm lens) and 1 camera body cap (for my FM2)
4) Crumpler bag - Not sure where the heck this disappears to... I always keeps my bags in 1 place, well, it's not anywhere... This is my first cam bag, and it's quite a good bag - Small but useful at times... It's greenish-brown in colour... Don't think this model is available anymore...
5) 1 travel adaptor

That's the current list... If I do really start an inventory I am certain there are more things that are missing... I don't think I need that right now...

Sigh... Ok, where the heck is that bag... ARGH...

St Luke ElderCare Charity Golf Event Part II

Ok, Did another round looking at all the photos again... Here are some more...

This guy was chipping the ball into the green,
just managed to get the follow-on swing and the flight of ball.

This was a "could have been perfect" shot... The spray of sand was nice,
the guy was in nice follow-up of the club swing.....
Except for 2 glaring points - The "extra" man blocking the picture... and
where is the ball?!?!?!?!? (Taken from 75-300mm telezoom lens)
Golfers are not aware of lens trailing them, and they don't bother!!! Sigh...

The next part of the event - dinner cum lucky draw....

They look rather bored isn't it??? The umpteen time that he has drawn from the cup.... :P

In this case, I think she is worried that Chris is too enthusiastic
about the draw that would cause the cup to drop! :P

Finally the "token" glam shot... :D

Ok.... That's all folks....

Note: One more week to go.... Yipee!!!

Spain... In another weeks time...

Yes, I am counting down the days till I leave for Spain for a long awaited holiday. The last holiday trip (other than Malaysia, I don't count those!!!) was... Er... In 1999 to Brisbane, for a friend's wedding... Wow... It has been that long!??!?! Furthermore, it will be my very first (guided) tour trip since, er, my last trip to Lake Toba like donkey years ago???

Yes, I do travel - I was in UK, Korea, Germany, US, China, Australia, etc - but they are all work trips!!!! Yes, I do managed to see some places (Well, the photos does not lie, in this case), but it's offices and classrooms for those trips with half to 2 days, depending on the length of stay at a location, to see the places!!!

I guess one of the reason for using tour is that, a) no grumbling about where to go, since it's all in the itinerary b) Spain (and Italy for that matter) tends to be a bit more complex in nature, therefore for 1st timers, it's better to be in a tour (Yes??! No!??!) c) It's slightly cheaper (I am beginning to wonder about that... Normally in such forex rate, it's usually cheaper... But...) HOWEVER, 1 big minus is that it will be a rush!!! I have a feeling I will be very tired by the time I reach back SG.... Which is why I took the next day off as well!!! Wait, there is another... I have no idea other than the 2 highlighted meals, what kind of meals are awaiting us in this tour.... I seriously hope it's not "Chinese" meals - I would lose weight on the trip instead of gaining!!!!

So meantime, I am packing my cam gear, spending time looking at weather forecast for the different cities that is in the itinerary to see what's the predicted weather for those days that I would spending my time there and see how cold it will be! Meantime, try to find time to read up on the places... Been rather lazy week at work for the these 2 weeks - Holiday mood! :D

Hmm... And I will still need to sift through the rest of the photos and see if I can post more...

Hmmm... Now how did they do that graphical representation of counting of the days...

St Luke ElderCare Charity Golf Event

Was a fair bit darker than before after the day at Laguna Golf Course for the St Luke's Eldercare Charity Golf... Yes, volunteered to be a photographer there... I have to say this... After looking at all their shots (by jx, tehpeng and shutterbug), I felt I am not one good photographer for such events... Maybe I should stick to fishes!!!! :P

Anyway, here are 2 of them... I have not really decide what to do with the rest of the shots...

This is one of the first few shots taken with a brand new 12-24mm F4 Tokina lens, the idea is there... But, haiz...

This is one of the most satisfactory shot that I have got. I like the frame of the swing along with the flight of the ball.
Had to post this in B&W as I find the difference in the green patches of the fairway distract the focus...

And this is how MizSnooze looks when she holds Shutterbug's Cannon EOS1D....

The cam seems to be very big in her hands.... :D

What to do... with 3 hours... Reading?!?!

Have been busy lately trying to get my stuff together for the trip - planing on what gear to bring, what bags to use, borrowing winter stuff from my aunt, etc. for the first time in my years of travel, I actually started to pack for the trip way before hand. You know those trips I had for the past few years, I only pack an hour ahead of the travel - including those Germany/Korea trips; and yet here I am throwing stuff into the luggage bag, and determining which to bring - I think I only need to throw in the t-shirts and pants and I am ready to go!

So then I started thinking about the 4 hour transit (well, more like 3 hours, since it will be +/- some mins from the landing to get to the transit area and also boarding the plane before the actual flight time). What can I do then? Should I or should I not bring the laptop (not that the laptop is mine, although I have been holding/using it for like coming to 2 years)... Ultimately this decision boils down to what I am using as my hand carry luggage. Is it going to be the usual small cabin luggage or just the bag which will contains my cam gear only? I was inclined to bring the normal luggage as this will allow me to dump in change of clothes as a "just-in-case". If I do that, the chances to bring the laptop is higher and since I heard that we can have free wireless access to internet, it would be a great way to spend that 3 hrs.

Had a short msn chat with tehsis about this and she suggested that I bring a book to read... Or better (according to her), buy one and read it, once finish, throw it away since it's only a couple of dollars.

I have actually thought about it, but her method of throwing a perfect book after reading does not sits well with me. Perhaps it's because of my background or my experience, any books I buy, it would have a space in my bookshelf. If I am going to throw it away, I would not have even bought it. Why buy something and then throw it away - Does it not have value after you have read it?

You see, my childhood world belongs to books. When I was young, my mother has known the power of books and she had bought a fair amount of books, from the long list of fairy tale books, to a small version of science encyclopedia. Those books are my companion as I was the only child and I was never really allowed to wander under the blocks like you see sometimes - those playing in the basketball courts, and gathering under one of the blocks of flat. So, it was either the tv or reading books. Both have the ability to give you knowledge (although some need more moderation than the other), one through words, the other visual. Not sure why, but my tv staple was confined to the weekends till I was older, because I could only remember watching tv on Sat afternoons - shows like Lone Ranger, Donny & Marie Osmond Show to name some (that I remember), and others which most probably be a staple of cartoons, sesame street, muppet show, some war movies, some western movies - I could clearly remember Have Gun, Will Travel. Yes, I have some fixation with any that is of war or guns... How I never did ended up in some military career is a wonder....

Anyway, I was brought up in staple of books that at that point is part of any children's list - the Hans Christian Anderson's stories, Grime Bro's fables and of course all the stories which Disney brought to life in their animations. I then proceed on to Enid Blyton's books... Five-Find Outers series are part of my favourites. Then it progresses to Hardy Boys - but interestingly never Nancy Drew... By the time I was in Secondary school, I was already into Encyclopedia - almost every saturday I would be found in the Library (since the library was within the walking distance and mother do allow me to make trips there!!), pouring over the volumes of Encyclopedia that the library have... On my own, I started reading up on biographies and histories. I clearly remember I do have some facination on the Kennedy family and there were tons of books on them... Iam sure I still have some of those books in my shelf somewhere...

So while my peers were all reading books like Sweet Valley High and its equivalent, I was pouring over the history of the world and biographies of famous people... From there, it was onto other subjects like current affairs and of course, anything on computers. I was starting to learn computing and usually could get some money to buy books on these topics...

I guess the distractions of life and computers halt the habit of reading till in Australia, that's where I started reading up books on Christian faith - Koorong book store in Australia had orders from me since then for a couple of years - I started to read books from Phillip Yancy, Max Lucado, etc.

As time goes on, the need to read books no longer impose itself on my time and even if I was to read, it's no longer any "heavy" subjects like I use to read on... I guess it was like in the reverse, I am now, if any, be reading books which does not require much thinking... More like to pass the time, which means no brainer stuff. Feels kind of weird as I think most of my peers are now into, if any, "heavier" stuff, and yet, I am making the reverse track where I am reading the "thrashy" stuff as those are the only no brainer kind of books... At time, it might even be comics! So I guess never say never! (I was so postive, at one point of my life, that I would never read such "thrasy" books as it was like a waste of time!!)

But at one point or another some things changes, and what you read changes as well... Heck at one low point of my work life, I even bought books like "How to manage your boss", "Think out of the box" and "Cross-train Your Brain"!!!

However, it's sad that the reading habit is becoming in danger of dying as these few years, most of my "reading" and information comes from the internet. It's such a vast difference between reading a book and the internet... But it's still reading... Right?!?!?

Oh well... Back to the question... What do I do for those few hours... Hmmm.... Decisions, decisions, decisions... Maybe a book could be a good idea, but I doubt I would throw it away after reading...

Some food reviews....

Recently I have been having my usual meals at the Ichiban Boshi (with Kuriya Fish Market) at Great World City. That's my usual joint for Japanese food and I love the sashimi that I could get at the fish market. Of course this means my bill would have been rather high, especially when I come across Uni. They had introduced me to another type of Uni, which according to them is from the sea (presuming the normal ones were cultivated, much like those oysters). Man, if you like Uni, these would be even better - it's much larger in size and so much sweeter than the usual one. I have also learned that fishes have different names when they are of different size. Apparently large yellow tail is not known as Hamachi, but Burii (but then he could be explaining the fish in very simple terms...) Whatever, it was nice... However, I am saving up (or waiting to find a occasion/reason) to try out the meal at Akane (located within Japanese Association at Adam road). There is also another recommended place - Kaisan at Raffles Hotel... Drooling while blogging about them... One day... One day I will get to taste the food there... And will blog about them after it... Heh...

Ever since I been to Korea and had this wonderful BBQ meal at one of the restuarant, I have always wanted to experience that kind of meal again, but never did find one in Singapore. I have tried Crystal Jade's Korean BBQ once, but the Galbi was so-so... The ginseng chicken soup was nice (I heard some Koreans who tried it claims that it's better than those in Korea!). My mum loves the desserts (although I think those are not really traditional Korean desserts), so much that she started to experiment on her own, trying to recreate them. I have also track down all the different Korean restuarants that apparently had recently mushroomed in Singapore. However, from what I heard, the quality for them are still not as close to what you can get in Korea. Anyway, I read about this Korean BBQ restuarant that just opened at Dempsey Road, and friday, I had my dinner there. When I first heard about them, I had actually took some time from one of the days, while driving my mum back to her place, to turn into Dempsey road just to find out where the place was. It was quite easy to find, since it's facing the Napier Road... and mother had this comment about not seeing people dining in there...

Well, guess what - it was a good thing we were early that day... Apparently, they had quite a lot of reservations. We managed to get our table, and we sat down, started to look at the menu... I noticed that it's all mains, and with very little vegtables. The reason was when you ordered your mains, they would come with the side dishes, like the kimchi, and other types of pickled vegetables, and even a plate of tofu! We had like 9 side dishes,which accompanies our BBQ plate of Wagyu beef and marinated pork rib. We also ordered the popular seafood and spring onion pancake. I have noticed that this pancake seems to be very popular with Koreans and they usually would order them as part of their meals...

So how did the meal goes... While wagyu beef was not like those thinly sliced beef prime ribs that I had in Korea, it was still lovely, the marinated pork ribs were sweeter, but then I was forwarn when they recommend it, and the pancake was actually quite good. While I don't claim to be expert in Korean food, I would say my meal at this place went quite well. The only part which damper the glee was that the meal cost over $100. But then again, we are talking about Wagyu beef.... So I guess it's expected... Oh, just in case you want to try it, it's Chang Korean BBQ Restaurant at Dempsey Road (Why it seems to have a Chinese name, I have no idea).

Another food which I had been eyeing was Peking Duck. Being me, I love skins, be it chicken or duck or even pork for that matter. I love suckling pig (I have not found the ultimate one yet), and even roast duck. Give me a plate of rice with just the skin - would be heaven for me... I have also been tracking down places and tried at some of them. The issue with this peking duck is that it's usually 2 dishes and it's better if you got company... So I could only take this if I had my mum and aunt with me.... Well, till I found this restuarant where their duck is done slightly different, but the skin... Ooo... Tasted good, and each dish is always only a quarter of the duck... I'm talking about a rather new resturant off Purvis St - Tea Cusine. It was that good that we went there twice - consecutive 2 Saturdays. Funny part, we also saw a couple who was there on those 2 Sats as well! (Not sure if they went back the 3rd Sat, but I was at work after that, another long story for that) Not sure why, but mother seems to be into desserts - she is also trying her hand in making some of the desserts we had there as well! In the process, she got some of the ingredients mixed up between the ones at Crystal Jade and here...

One more place which I could get good roast duck (and skin, but not in Peking duck manner) was this duck rice stall in Ghim Moh Hawker Center. There are a few stores there selling roast duck rice (including the once famous Johnson duck), but this particular one is next to a Ipoh hor fun stall which was also once famous - the chef was on TV once introducing his hor fun. There is usually a queue at the stall, but it's not as long as the Char Kuay Teow one. It seems that this is one hawker centre that has quite a few stalls that server good stuff... Only issue is, do you have the time to queue for it... I heard the yong tau foo (think it's Hakka) there is also good, then there is this boneless chicken rice stall (which I have never tried, I usually goes to another stall which I like) Oh, if you follow the MOE ratings, like A, B, C, and D.... Please don't go there - especially the duck stall... while it's rated 'C', the queue is still long... Just like the Char Kuay Teow stall which I think got only a B. What's the worry anyway, the places here are relatively cleaner than those I could find in Penang, and I still eat those in Penang... I am still alive and kicking... Heck, I think you would have forgotten it when you first taste the food!

Oh well... I guess this explains why my waist line is still growing instead of being controlled and it's quite impossible to reduce it!!!

Spiteful Drivers

Not sure why but today I met with an impatient and spiteful driver who was driving a Lexus RX300 (then again, it could be the Toyota Harrier, rebadged to Lexus RX300). Was turning left to the main road, and he was driving behind me. Because there were a few turning lanes, I had understeer, so I was in the wrong lane. This guy started to move into the left lane and speed up and because I was coming into the lane, he started to blast me with his horn, and I brake a little, and not move into that lane. He then drove pass me on my left and slowed down (according to my aunt he stared at me for a while) and then pulled ahead. Since he pulled ahead, I showed my signal and then move into the lane. Guess what the fellow did... He jammed his brakes, and causing me to jam mine as well as the taxi behind me! If I had not been alerted to his sudden slowness in driving, and jam on my brake like hell come over, I would have bang the rear of his car and if the taxi has not been alert, he would have bang the rear of my car!!! How spiteful can a person be? Does he feels good when he did that? Does he knows that he is being irresponsible driver and could cause accidents?!?!?! He must have thought of it and thinks that it's a good way to "repay" me... Of course I am damn pissed off by his attitude... He has already horned and for a long time as well... And then he pull that stunt!

I hope one day he would meet someone as spiteful, if not more spiteful than him and let him learn a lesson on how dangerous was he! I would have love to be there when that happens, but only if I was standing at the road side to witness it. It would have been even better if at that point when that happens, there's a traffic police there and was out of his sight and he gets pulled over and being fined as well as given at least 6 points for his stunts!

Maybe I can be as spiteful as he is (since I am hopping he would meet someone like him or worse), but at least I am not putting myself and others in danger because of it!!!!

What a way to end the day... Oh, and government is talking about social graces?!?!? That I think would never happen here... Not with such people around...

A New Year....

Sigh... A new year has come. Hope all of you had a good long weekend break.

It has been awhile since my last entry... Well, since then I have been so busy that I don't even had the chance to enjoy this long weekend break... Long story... Still not happy about it... Don't want to talk about it...

Anyway, I don't know why, but banks seems to decide to change their internet security at a time where I practically had no time to even look at them... So when I wanted to pay my bills (on the final day, because I just remembered them at that day...) I was faced with issues, and was not able to pay as per normal!!! Worse, now I have to carry this small little device with me everywhere I go, and I cannot do any banking stuff without it. So if I happened to misplace it or I had to do emergency stuff and I don't have it, guess what - Yup, I am stuck! Why can't they come up with something that is easier to carry - as thin as a credit card so that I can place it in my wallet??? This is like worse than coins! Larger and thicker in size and without it, I can't even do anything... Dang, where can I place it... ARGH!!!!!

Of course there were some pleasant events, like giving myself a Christmas present - a brand new plasma TV!!! Although, I think my housemate is the one to enjoy it more than I do, hmm... Well, after buying it and got it delivered, guess what... I found out that my old HiTB's S-Video does not even work!!! ARGH!!! So now... I am looking at a affordable (yes, because the big spending was already done!!! No more spare $$$, since I am going Spain in Feb) DVD player that can take advantage of the HDMI connection... But I have to say, even with the normal RCA connection, plasma could anytime beat CRT in terms of the PQ of the DVDs... Now I wonder what's the improvement for a HDMI connection...

Everyone seems to talk about Goals and Aims for 2007... Me? Forget it... I just finally managed at the last moment to finish my list of "duties and achievements for 2006" for my boss... I had enough of squeezing an overworked brain... Now... I just want to relax and enjoy my plasma - even if it means sleeping at 2 am for the next few days!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

I look forward to my trip to Spain... How I wish it's Feb now!!! Talking about that... Oh No! I need to get a good sturdy and not so easily pickpocketed camera bag for this trip.... ARGH!!!!

H. E. L. P. !!!!!