Taiwan

A 5 days and 4 nights stay in Taiwan was a good trip for me and my queen. It reminds me of the courtship and how loving both of us can be.. ;-)

After the Shangri-La, we headed back to Taipei to house ourselves in the pathetic hotel room. Shopping at the night market, visiting CKS memorial, Sun Yat Sun memorial and Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world....

Shangri La Farm Stay in Taiwan

After touching down in Taipei last night, we travel to the eastern part of Taiwan by train, Yilan.. After a disappointing welcome VIP hotel that is akin to our Hotel 81, Shangri-La is a pleasant surprise.. It's huge and luxurious that has 2 king size bed plus a mini balcony for city view..

Well, this is not the season for farming, a fruit farm.. The little farming area that we stay within has no fruits, except Mandarin Oranges..

Well, at least the shopping area at the city was fruitful.

The night activities at the farm-stay was fun, Shangri-La organised Tuluo, Tang Yuan making and wish lantern..

My Birthday today

As the saying goes...One year older, one year wiser.. I really hope that I had gain and matured over the past year.. While I continue to muster experience in life, finding relationship puzzle a challenge to fix. Money, money and more money.. It seems that my elders cannot get away of relating monthly allowances with me. They always "chase" me for the money but has not been remembering that I am still financing the installment of the $20K I had given them during my uni years.. With the allowance I am giving them, it works out to be almost $800/- a month.. While they feel that I am giving too little for what I am earning, they failed to understand that I am only saving as much as I am giving them...

They complain about the lack of visits I had paid with my small close family.. How frustrating at times, they just cannot understand as you grow older and career will take up most of my time during weekdays.. At times, my weekends are just a get away to get myself recharged, if I ever have one..

As I continue to hope that things will turn out better in the long run, it just seems that it is always the one step forward and 2 steps back.. None of my family other than my elder brother wishes my Happy Birthday today.. They may have always blame me for forgetting, not celebrating when its their turn, where is mine? Its not about being picky, its about fairness to me. I hope that they had been treasuring me as much as I have been, though visually they might felt that I am long forgotten, I have not..

Things will turn out better in 2010 as I try to bear my family another child of LIM.

Happy Birthday to myself..

Wii Fit for the unfit

1..2...3....4..... 2..2....3...4... Phew, I was "chanting" these numbers away as I pull my legs together for the next set of exercise guided by the Wii trainer.. I bought myself a Wii Nintendo with the Wii fit as a measure to couple gaming with exercises together as one.. More often than not, I was too lazy to shed away the extra kilos I had gain over a few months of unmeasured indulgences. This is actually a chance purchase as I caught the advertisement over Class 95FM that carrefour is running some Wii roadshow with discounts.. Well, I was in 2 minds on the purchase as the price although discounted is still a bit pricey.. I had bought it nonetheless.. Hopefully, with the Wii fit game, it can help me trim off some weight and strengthen my body as I continue to play..

Drop in work performance, fair statement?

Today, one of my colleague is told and served by my boss a performance warning notice for his ever nonexistence in work performance. I was shocked and amused by his reaction, "who says I am not working, it is just that no one knows". How could he have the cheek to say that and refused to acknowledge the warning letter? I think he got the wrong thing, value perception is not just about others' appreciation of you but your work results.. Recalcitrant.. Deserved to be sacked.

Estella seems to be sensitive to dust

Red swollen eyes and seemingly itchy hands.. It seems that she is very sensitive to dust.. The first time occurred when she was just months old and now again.

My Marriage turns 2

It seems just not long ago, we were walking down the aisle singing our song away as we celebrate our wedding at Le Meridien hotel.

We bought ourselves a timeless piece from City Chain after spending our dinner at Waruku.. Nothing special but a time to enjoy and reminisce those courtship time till date. We reaffirm our love promise to one another and seek a timeless piece as one to mark this day of celebration.

Growing up in education..

PSLE results was released last thursday.. Some parents are anxious about their child's result, some are not. Topping this year's PSLE is a China Born student, scoring a high score of 290 points..

My boss' son did well with 246 points, but he seems not satisfied. This is the state of pressure that anxious parents place on their child. Is it for the betterment or worse? I believed it is important. Setting up the right environment for the child to grow is the first priority. Getting a place in a good school for them is equally important as the values we imbue in them during their growing years.
He was sharing that the time he put in volunteer parenting work just to get a place. This may sound ridiculous, but important to me.

Already, I have been in thoughts with my queen to get my princess in a good school in the coming years, including pre schooling centre. But is it enough? I am not sure, but what I can be sure is getting the right environment for them to start is the bare minimum.

My first ever Prawning

Just days ago, my Deputy was sharing his joy on fishing and prawning, my comment to him was it was too cruel to fish a life and BBQing it live..

Here I am today at a prawn fishing restaurant at Guillemard Road (The old Badminton Hall) prawning with my childhood frienz.. Ha, what ironic this is..  We spent about 3 hrs fishing the prawns, and while my comrades had a fruitful outing, I only manage to fish my 1st prawn at the eleventh hour, hahah just minutes before the time is up.. Maybe I really should not have fish it..

Hari Raya Haji

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is a holiday celebrated by Muslims (including the Druze) worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God.

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from the Quran.[1] Like Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon (khuṭba).

Eid al-Adha annually falls on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar. The festivities last for three days or more depending on the country. Eid al-Adha occurs the day after the pilgrims conducting Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. It happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

For me, it is a good break from the hectic schedule of mine.

Matters of the heart

As humans continue to find ways and means to improve the lives and the environment for everyone, be it technology, green car, etc. There is an aspect of complexity that we ourselves cannot change, and that is matters of the heart.

It has been coming to 2 years since the day I got married to my Queen when we finally went through the Chinese Customary rituals of marriage blessing.. Some hurting words said still lingers very much in the hearts of our own. Hoping to get blessing from the elders is what all young couple yearned for and what was not gotten will always be remembered.

My buddy who had recently got married is having similar "matters of the heart". His queen apparently does not communicate well with his elders. I can tell that he felt "sandwiched" and troubled by it.. Although my queen is much more understanding in this aspect, her emotional breakdown everytime she recall the hurting words does not help in strengthening the relationship. She just loved to be loved and loved to reciprocate like how she treat 大舅 and 大舅母. I can sense that she respect both of them a lot and is always forthcoming to attend functions and occasion whenever they are around. How could I blame her? Filial piety is probably the most fortunately values that both myself and my queen values, but who is there to understand us then?

My learning lessons was my advice to my younger colleagues in hope to prevent more of such cases in the society that we live in and of course, the education of my young ones before we turn old one day.

Grandmother-in-law 83rd Birthday

Jementah.. It is at the same restaurant that I had celebrated my matrimony that this 92nd birthday bash was held... Well, not exactly a bash, but a big get together for her.. Sons and daughters together with their families came from various parts of Malaysia and Singapore, like KL, Johore, etc came to celebrate her birthday..

She was moved to tears when 4 generations of sons and daughters sing her a long birthday song...

It is not easy raising up so many children in grow up phase with Japanese Occupation.

My latest Digital Gadget - Acer Apsire 1410

I just got myself a new notebook in the size of a netbook, Acer Aspire 1410.. Eagerly wanted a light weight notebook and handy to bring around for my latest addiction, stocks...

Weighing just 1.4kg with a battery lifespan of up to 8 hrs, typically 4 hrs (Tested with movie screening).. Suit my needs and wants..

LASIK

Sitting right now in the waiting area of the Singapore Eye Centre, waiting for my queen to complete her checkup and her long awaited "Perfect Eyesight".

Months ago, even before my little princess came into our lives, my queen has been harbouring thoughts about getting her eyesight corrected.. But she shelved this cos I wanted to start family first.. Finally, after almost 2 years wait, she finally going to get what she wanted.. Clear vision everytime she opened her eyes in the morning..

Micheal Jackson - This is it...

As the world continues to mourn for one of the biggest loss in the music industry, the Kingof POP, Micheal Jackson.. A movie recounts those precious and memorable moments as he, Micheal Jackson, and his team prepares for the world tour, This is it.. before his death in Jul..

I caught these moments in the theater of Bugis with my Queen in a midnight show.. Guess that I will miss his dance move for the rest of my life..

Marriage Journey

It all started with no relationship,
Till we met to start the acquaintanceship,
Love at first sight to embark on my courtship,
And end with lovely relationship,
Finally with marriage, where I had found kinship.

Consolidation of thoughts

This is the busiest month in recent months.. Just months ago, I thought my career was crashing into the realm of hopeless, no bright progression, no recognition, no promotions... Things started to change with just one lucky breakaway.. I was given the opportunity to prove my worth..

Not just my immediate boss appreciating the work that I had put in, my current stand-in job had also put me in good stead to prove my worth to my other 2 big bosses.. Well, of course, this comes with a price...

I haven really been going home early for the whole of October, being part of the working committee of my organisational restructuring planning, toggle with my extensively busy schedule of my basic routine.. This actually almost took a toil on me. Reaching home at 12 midnight almost every night isnt a good thing.. I can only catch my daughter sleeping during weekdays.. Fortunately, I've got the weekends to catch up, less 2 Saturdays where I had to strive to meet deadlines..And now of course, to pen my thoughts on blog..

A great mind does not wait for opportunity, he creates them..

Exactly 12 months ago

A year ago, i was pacing up and down, in and out of the delivery room at east shore hospital, awaiting eagerly for the arrival of my princess..

How time flies.. She is one.. And yet I was bogged down by work and failed to reach home before twelve to say happy birthday to my little one..

Ha ha.. Maybe it was instinct or waiting for father, my princess was wide awake when i reached home part midnight.. She soon fell asleep after i wishes her happy birthday..

Today, My queen opened a savings account for princess to grow all the angbow money she got from the birthday celebration on sat.. My princess got her first pair of shoes too.. Sadly, I was not there..

I will make it up... Guess its not only tough to be my wife, its also tough to be my kid..

Estella's first birthday..

Happy Birthday To You... We celebrated her first birthday with families and close friends at this reputable restaurant called Tung Lok, Noble House.. We feast as we waited eagerly to celebrate my princess' first birthday with a Little Twin Stars Cake..

My little princess has grown to be very strong willed.. As my queen led her to cut the cake after the birthday song, she refuses to release the plastic knife.. I had to cut her a portion of cake and let her slice to her hearts content.. Her birthday right? Ha ha.. My lovely little princess..

4D of happiness

Dear dear dear.. The beautiful voice of my queen kept stamming away with the knocks on the toilet's door while I was enjoying my cooling bath from the evening heat..

"Did we buy the carplate for Sunday's draw?" my wife asked as I was opening the door.. 7879 came out in the 2nd prize..

How lucky can we get? We had stopped investing on these lottery thing for quite a while cos we never got close before.

It was my princess, who out of the blue drew out 4 numbered floor mat jigsaw from the toy box while playing with the rest of the toys.. 6502. And that triggers me to buy both 6502 and 9502 (inverse of 6 to 9) on sat. It was a chance buy that I shaded my carplate no as we spent half an hour queuing at Marine Parade' NTUC Singapore pool outlet to buy 2 sets of numbers that my princess had drawn from her playtoy.

Good luck follows from the accident, and more so from my princess, for whom gave me the reason to buy 4D.

Accident..

Bang, "kulong kulong kulong kulong kulong kulong"... That was the sound I detest the most, well for the whole of Sunday's afternoon after 2pm.. While I was scolding a red car who drove into the yellow box (Give way), when there is obviously a heavy traffic ahead of him, and deprived me of a decent chance to move my car out of the carpark, I whack my car into a moving taxi..

S**T.... The taxi's right rear fender is literally ripped off and became a free gift in my front left corner of my bumper.. It is so embedded that it is not possible to remove it without any form of tool...

Fortunately out of the unfortunate, the lady at the front desk told me that AIG is waivering my excess when I made the report.. Haisee...

Job versus Career

Dictionary.com defines Job as a regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession, while a career is defined as a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking:

So what do you consider your employment as? a job or a career?

My colleague once told me that he has little aspiration to compete and work doubly hard as he sees more in family life than this job.. well, he consider this as a paid employment and not a lifelong career that he seek profession satisfaction through promotion..

Well, there is nothing socially wrong with his perspective although it seems professionally wrong since the organisation pay you to work for them...

Take a step back and think.. job or career.. well, its still a career for me as at now...

Routine Maintenance of marriage

As time continued to write past in our history books, I paused to think of the world and family around me.

I realised that time management has to be done with thread thin care. Why so? There are so many activities that want a slice of my life. Sleep and work had probably stolen a huge chunk of my life each week, time with my princess, my queen, my parents as well as hers. and also my peace time? How I wish I could manage this, if they all can happen concurrently.

Suddenly, it dawn upon me that I have not spend enough time with my queen and my parents.. But when I do soul searching, it still could not work out on how this can be better managed. Some things has to be sacrificed if I want everything, but who and which? Tough as i continue to search for the best combination..

Job Satisfaction, Time and Space

Sometimes I really wonder how to establish a foothold and be in the good books of superiors.. I am slogging away the work that seemingly piling over my head and yet I strongly felt that I am not recognised for all the effort that I had put in..

My boss wanted me to juggle 2 jobs and yet told me that he does not want to rank me for all the hard work I had put in.. instead, he tried to comfort me by saying with the secondary job that I am working for the big boss, "Nearer to God", he says, is good enough if I continue to work hard..

I was a bit buy in... what what lies ahead is a journey full of uncertainty... I just hope that I dun screw up, else my career is really screwed up... That's why some says, it just luck and time & space..

NDP Preview 2009

Got myself fixed in getting good fireworks pictures...

Fortune telling

So what really drives a person to read into fortune telling.? When the going gets tough? Reality does not meet expectations? Or the luck seems down most of the time?

A casual remark about my buddy and my god mother reading deeply into it drives the curiosity of my queen..

The fact that the predictions on my god mother has been accurate has not put things any better in perspective... My queen went to hear her life story being unfolded by the teller. The combination of life predicaments that revolving bad job satisfaction, financial management to other spheres of happiness and family was told.. Although I am not supportive of these, but the teller should put her into the realm of self-realisation.. Manage her expectation at least..

Latest Nikon 55-200mm VR AF-S f/4-5.6G ED to my ever growing Lens Arsenal

As I dive deeper into the realm of photography, I armed myself with yet another lens to my ever growing collection.. I have gotten myself a tele lens to overcome distance, ZemonYun from Clubsnap... Actually, this lens comes in 2 different makes.. There is a 1st generation 55 - 200mm Non VR version that would probably add to the difficulty of stablising the image during the shoot.. This version that i have got is the Vibration Reduction version that can helps to reduce vibrations of up to 3 stops.. That would put panning at a distance a breeze compared to the earlier version.. I haven got myself into the shoot with this latest lens, but this would definitely be my choice of use when it comes to reportage and events where I need to shoot from a distance... Will review this lens further...

H1N1

This unwelcomed flu has been hogging the headlines every other day.

The flu has shock me by taking away a young 13 year old boy from his dearest family. It hurts even more when the cremation has to take place on the day his mother is due to celebrate her annual birthday. This is sad, even for reader like me.. How much more hurt his mother will feel every year from this year onwards, she will be constantly reminded that her birthday, unfortunately also marks the anniversary for her son's death..

What's worst can it get?

Canopy walk at Mount Faber

After missing a period of outdoor activities, my queen volunteered me to join her with her university alumni canopy walk on saturday morning.. from Mount Faber to Hort Park, probably a distance of 5km..

I took this opportunity to grab my D90 to catch greenery of Singapore.. It was a meaningful walk, joined by thousand others.. Walking trails that I have never got myself into before, taking photos that I had never got into..

But definitely, this was a time to release my Queen's work tension mustered over the week..

Formula Drift 2009 at Changi Exhibition Centre

This is my first ever attendance to such an event....It was always been too expensive for me to make sense.. But this year, I was persuaded by my buddy to attend this.. This turns out to be an eye-opener for me for both the driving drifting techniques and also a window for me to continue to hone my photography skills.. this time round, I experimented on panning... Panning means taking a moving object with blur background to give the "speed" feeling..

Transformer: The revenge of the fallen..

This is a very good movie that rekindle sweet memories of the cartoon version I had watched many years ago.. Though it has come to a stage where the story is stale and predictable..

Nonetheless, this is also the 1st movie I had watched with my Queen for a long long time... I still enjoy the moments that she held my arms and lay her cheeks on my shoulder... It was sweet.. Haise, I must have disappointed her many times for being a boring partner..

Well, I probably lost the sense of romance, ever since the little came to the family.. I was too lazy to move around, especially with the idea of taking care of her while we are out.. too troublesome and hassle.. have to prepare her stuffs and so on... But that's fatherhood..

I will change, probably till she can start walking on her own... But not at the present moment... she just cant stop moving and struggling while we carry her..

Micheal Jackson: World greatest Pop Star has passed on...

I still cannot come to terms that the world's greatest pop star has passed away.. apparently, due to cardio arrest,.. this is some disease that caught many...

The Jackson's family is still unsatisfied with the autopsy results that the coroner has concluded...

Boss at Work..

The longer you stay, you more you know about the person.. I am not sure it this match fits the description of my boss, but he definitely show some hints on foresight..

Happy Birthday To You....

Today marks my queen's anniversary of existence, since she took her first breath 30 years ago.

We went to this little buffet restaurant called Market Plaza at Swiss hotel for a sumptuous meal as a prelude to the celebrations before the actual day..... I downed at least 30 oysters in the process.. Hahaha... What a booster...

I gave her another treat at this imperial treasure restaurant located at Marina Square.. It was a chinese restaurant that serve standard chinese food with nothing in particularly good, except for what my Queen feels that the dim sum is not bad..

I got her a cake at Swensens and got ourselves a surprise, a free fire ice-cream absolutely free.. hhaha.. It was the way Swensen celebrate birthday for their customer.. We flew off to the hotel at the airport called Crown hotel to celebrate the cake cutting with four good friends of ours... It was beautiful..

Latest acquisition.. D90

Over 6 months on.. I have decided to capture D90 as a mini upgrade from D80.. Not quite impressive, but not financially strong to arm myself with a substantially more expensive D300 or more..


This camera gives more noise control at higher ISO and gives a better colour return on images captured.. The downside though is the video recording function... nothing to cheer about being the 1st DSLR that is able to record video with wonderful camera lenses that a normal video camera cannot.. It cannot auto-focus... Darn.. I only know about this about I had purchased this new toy..

Fortunately, the enhancement of picture quality and noise control gives me a bit of consolation..

Mt Little Princess Fever Scare

I was doing my briefing when my Mother-in-Law called... Estella is having a fever and vomits everything that she takes.. I was shocked, but caught my soul to tell her to bring Estella to KK Hospital..

As soon as my meeting is over, I applied for urgent leave, (Fortunately my boss was understanding in this), and rushes my way down to the Hospital.. With looming H1N1 rifing these days, entering the hospital is not a straight forward task, I was held to ask whether I had travelled recently and temperature test..

Fortunately, after a series of test, including urine test, doctor cleared her from major illnesses and told us that its probably a viral infection.. and there should no need to be alarmed..

Toy Museum

Residing at one of the most famous places in Singapore. 26 Seah Street, beside Raffles Hotel.. Before this show, "The Wedding Game" starring Fann Wong and her hubby.. I never knew the existence of this toy museum, not even when it is located at one of the most bustling places of all...

A trip over the weekend, Saturday, rekindle some of the sweet young memories of the little toys that I craved when I was young.. Astroboy, Ultraman, Mickey mouse and many many more..

The toys are housed in this unique 5 storeys shophouse. The tour starts with my granddad's era's toy at the 5th storey and brought me to collector items on 2nd...

Beauty of Thrifty or Stinging Stinginess

Spendthrift habit of mine dies off after my marriage took off.. From a person who struggle to string a savings of more than $1000 for more than half of my twenties to now a person who invest and save substantially.. My wife is indeed an influence to force me to save for rainy days.. If not for her, well, probably, I would still be living by the day.. Sometimes I wonder, have i gone into a stage of extreme thriftiness, or what others may perceive as stinginess. I just hope that its pure thriftiness..

Interesting story reflecting on organisational structure and people

My new boss has this weird sense of humour. In his opening address, he told us a story

"There once this old lady wearing torn clothes, went to a posh car dealer selling lamborgini. She told the salesman that she wants the best performance car in the showroom. The saleman look at her with suspicion, request to see her driving licence and told her that there is no loan financing available. Not impressed, she shows him the valid licence with medical proof that she is still licenced to drive, moving on, she opened her handbag and shows him stacks of $1000 notes. After an hour or so, explaining the performance and technical specifications of the car, she paid in cash and ask the salesman to deliver it to her place.. And she left. The saleman joyed at the quick sales and good fortune and got his company staff to deliver the car the next day. A week later, the old lady called and demand a refund, citing that the performance was not as described by the salesman.. It was not able to accelerate to 100km/hr in 3.9 secs. The salesman was worried, trying to solve the problem over the phone, finally decided to go to her place to have a look.. He got the old lady to drive the car as he try to assess the problem. The engine burst into life upon ignition but died after moving off. The salesman puzzled. It happened again even after a few tries.. The old lady forgot to release the handbrake."

The organisation structure that we have is in place, but the success still depends very much on the people that is operating it.. We have to do our due diligent and dun jam brake..

My first ever Photoshoot with Model Rebecca and Kim..

First and disappointing photoshoot experience.. I went to Telok Blangah Hill carpark 2 early in the morning to catch my first ever paid photoshoot of models.. Rebecca (Green) and Kim... The organiser has a very poor sense of organising the shoot.. He has never been to this place and keep on saying spot your own location and take the photos.. Darn.. The shoot seems so haphazardly done.. Well, fortunately, the models were cooperative in the shoot...

My ex boss change of command parade..

Its my boss turn to relinquish command. It was a bit emotional as he deliver his farewell speech to the battalion.. I can understand, his sense of brotherhood, the bond that we had built through thick and thin.. Became the best unit in the annual unit competition.. He has led us to achieve a lot..

Durian Durian Durian..

The late night food expedition with Kenneth and Cynthia took another revolution, fruits feast.. This time, we trash our way to balestier road, next to temple.. 4 durians, 5 mangoes, 5 coconuts and about 7 packets of mineral water, $50. Cheap man.. Must go again..

Triggers of creativity

Creativeness is a mental process in generating new ideas.. And so on... That was the introduction to the course I had attended on tuesday morning..

I was introduced to this 4-players model that states a innovative process involved this 4 roles, mover, observer, opposer and listener.. Derived from this abilene paradox. Well, dun think I had learnt much..

Fengyan's cousin, Hong Lian's wedding

It was held at Tangkak, some 25km away from Jementah on a quiet Sunday night. Hong Lian is her 4th aunt eldest son.. You can see the gleam of happiness from both families.. Especially her aunt who had lost her husband to cancer some years back..

Malaysia style of wedding has this unique way of celebrating wedding during dinner.. Guest are invited to go on stage to sing their hearts out while dinner is served and the couple goes around in no particular sequence to thank the guest.. Seems chaotic but definitely full of vibrant and life..

City Hall Walkabout..

Long overdue archive of photos taken early this month, 8th May to be exact.. I realised that it is a challenge to take photos on a bright and sunny day.. I made several attempts to get the photos right on the "Durian".. manage to get it at the end of the day.

Rule of thumb, subject in the photo is complimented by the background.. bright blue sky with white clouds can be a good background for the subject..

Positioning of camera.. It is best that the sun is shining on the subject to lower the exposure to capture sweet colours of the background..

Shutter speed, slower shutter speed can make flowing water silky, find a railing or any other support to "hold" the camera in place when you are using slow shutter speed to prevent "Blurness" in the picture..

Twist of fate in my career...

I was left licking the wounds of the unfortunate incident that happened months ago.. and was still bitching about the effectiveness and efficiency of my discipinary board..

A pleasant surprise awaits me while I am still mourning over the loss of the greatest match I had witnessed in the wee hours...

I AM PROMOTED IN GRADE...

I was presented the offer of promotion in grade by my big boss just after lunch... (I initially thought that the meeting was to counsel me over the case).. Double happiness... My Apr bonus that was withheld will be reinstated in Jun.. My case is over.. is over....

Without a second thought, I went to my ex-boss to extend my deepest gratitude over his assistance in my case... I have 1 more boss to thank... I must not forget him on how he continue to fought hard for me during my last period of my last tour..

I thank all... I thank Buddha and Goddess of Mercy who have been keeping a watchful eye over me..

Sadness not disappointed with Champions League Loss

I woke up with a persisting nervous feeling in the wee hours.. The biggest game on earth is about to start in 20 mins, Barcelona against Manchester United.

I chose a crowded coffeeshop over cosy bed to watch this game.. Well, i was worried that I might just turn into a vocal nuisance whenever Manchester United attacks or score.. I was well quiet after 10 mins when Eto scores in their first attack.. I lost my mood after Messi made it 2-0 late in the second half.. Manchester United miracle comeback looks impossible..

Manchester United lost to a team who had played a beautiful game with smooth passing game.. The best team won.. Sadness took over the job of nervous system.. We lost after a massively successful season.. Good job done Manchester.. Sad but not disappointed..

My new working space..

I have moved on... To a new appointment.. But I am quite apprehensive about it.. This is a brand new job created to expand the horizon in a nich area that my organisation is still new to.. This ought to be a good news to me, but.. Haise.. The politics aura is so tense here.. My first day on monday was my first experience..

My nearest neighbour tried to poison me about the working attitude and relations of the other colleagues.. Wow.. My first day man, and how sure is he on my character and relationship with the rest.. I have to watch my back..

The next few days of work concentrates on preparation of slides for my new boss who dun even knows what the contents of the slides, by the way, i used the previous slides as a template to start with.. What a joke..

Hows my life gonna be man.. S**t..

Zoo..

Woke up early to catch animals morning activities.. We went to the zoo... This is her first but definitely not the last.. My queen's company benefits.. They got this corporate friends card that admits 4 for free.. Or at least free for us..

Manchester United is the English Premier League Champions for the 11th Time..

1 point is all they need from the home game against Arsenal.. and they did exactly that.. They hold on to a goalless draw against Arsenal to be crowned as the Champions of England for the 11th time since English Premier League first started in 1992..



Let us recap some of the Ronaldo's Goal.. His top 10 goals this season..

Lele's First Crawl...

Finally, she starts to crawl...

Rooney Top 20 Premier League Goals..

14 May 2009.. 4 years on...

How time flies.. Its been 4 years since the day we held hands at Grand Copthorne Hotel... I gave my Queen a surprise by revisiting the first places we been to on that wonderful day..

Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel (Nagae Japanese Restaurant)

Mount Faber

Wedding Night

Sheraton Towers Hotel... This is where my buddy and his wife celebrate their matrimony..

Kenneth.. My childhood buddy is finally getting married after 12 years of courtship..

1 year after legally married to his wife, Cynthia Choo, they are tying the knots officially in the eyes of chinese customary..
Brothers...





Sisters.. Congratulations...

We had also booked a room.. 2004...

Vesak Day

I had lost count.. This year is probably the 12th year i am walking the 三步一拜. Every years' feeling is different, from praying for health for my family, to now including happiness and well being for my daughter. The usual routine of long wait in the queue for the ceremony was also different, we cant wait for long mainly due to my wife lactating cycle.

Buddha is the greatest teacher.. The tranquility landscape of 光明山 was overwhelmed by the waves of prayers, swarming every single inch of the monastery. Estella will be here in the next few years.. Happy Vesak Day..

Handing over my command

6 May was probably the emotional moment for me in the entire career. After leading my team for slightly more than a year, the fun, love, anger, sufferings will always be remembered and treasured..

Final Journey, last goodbye..

Grandmother in law.. Final goodbye..

第七日 The seventh day

Today marks the seventh day of the funeral which is also known as 第七日, in chinese custom specific to taoism, this marks the completion of the transition journey for my grandmother in law..

Tonight, three priests, looks in their fifties, did the final rituals, sadly, i dun really understand the true meaning and purpose to it.. What I assume is the rituals is done to appease her and prepare her for her next destination and life.. We pray as the priests sing their prayers with breaks in between prayers.

During the prayers, it also occurs to me how much the young generation understood this and how many could or would replace these priests and their honourable job.. I am ashamed.. How many more out there are?

Parklon Pooh Flowerhill..

Winnie The Pooh.. As my Princess grows, she need a mat to learn to crawl.. Safely...

I chanced upon a blog that sells playmat at a cheaper price, lgmat, and bought its parkmol Pooh Flowerhill..

Kinship..

Kinship... Maintenance of it is a daily affair and not a moment of effort

Life is so unpredictable..

28 April 2009, it has been exactly two months since my grandfather-in-law had moved on to the other side on 28 Feb.. Today, the most unfortunate events that could possibly happen has happened.. My grandmother in law, and that is his wife, had moved on to join him at the other side.. Nerved breaking news after I had happily pick up my Queen from work.. I dun really like her expression when she first board the car.. the worst had happened.. It was so suddenly, no known illness or slightest hint, she just sat on the sofa and moved on... Life seems so fragile and sudden...

Lele's first visit to the pool..

Pinky pinky bikini.. Estella's first sexy swimwear..

We thought that the trip to the pool are doomed to be shelved to next weekend after thunderous rainy afternoon while we searched for the prettiest swimwear.. Phew.. Sky made our day, its fair weather in the late afternoon.. Good weather for a pool swim without getting the unsightly tan..

Baby chair lunch..

After a long and torturing 6 months and 14 days, my little princess is able to sit on a baby chair while I enjoy lunch with my queen..

Well, she seems a little restless after a while..

My colleague's son Angus

Baby shower.. Its my colleague's turn to throw baby shower celebrations.. In chinese interpretation, it is a cause to celebrate the completion of the most fragile period of babyhood since birth.. Its only then i realise how big my little princess has grown in size and intellectual.. In comparison to Angus.

My new lens Tamron Autofocus 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Here we go again... After adding SB600 to my ever increasing collection of camera accessories just over a fortnight ago, I had just increase my lenses population with Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 yesterday, its my first fast lens.


I came across this sale in CS buy and sell.. To my surprise, someone by the nick Markyen, put up a notice to sell this Tamron some $100 off RRP after purchasing it a month ago, meaning to say, the lens still have another 35 months of warranty to go..

Bullshit but still need to slog

I damn myself for engaging into a 8 years bond.. Running towards the end of 5 years.. I find the passion and fire for the job diminishing every single day.. I cannot leave, cannot pay to get out and have to "suck thumb" to drag myself to work every single day.. Yes, i have a bond obligations to honour.. But the way that the organisation treat their employee is simply bullshit.. I put in 110% in everything i do for the organisation.. But still my future is not decided by what is my performance at work but a loss of laptop.. What does one laptop with absolutely no confidential documents hurt to the organisation, and i am faulted with potential promotion delay for up to 3 years. This is more hurting on the fact that the laptop was stolen right inside the organisation's vehicle with a driver inside. I say my peace..

Trying period for both my wife and myself

What do we need to do to get our career kick start at mid-age? This period did not occur the smoothest career tempo for my Queen and myself.. My queen runs into the laziest "Miss Hollywood" as his immediate superior who only work on jobs that inherit limelight, those dim and unglamourous work was left to my wife.. and last minute ones too... for a few of the "tasks" were tasked at the eleventh hour.. Such convenience to get someone to take the blame..

For me... I recently got into some what I called "unlucky event" and got honour to be the scapegoat for the incident.. This had also resulted in my performance bonus, for last year good work that I had put in, being withheld until further notice by my policy department.. I just do not understand why would the organisation punish their employee for the slightest mistakes they commit, even though it did not compromise the organisation's position in any way...

My subordinate got into some scuffles while he was partying.. As young punks always get themselves into after downing mugs and mugs of alcohol, fights.. He was a victim of the STANDARD staring case as claimed by the other party, guess it is just an opening statement to find someone to beat up.. Of course, my guy did what I felt the most appropriate action, retaliate and punch his way out.. Guess what, he was stopped by the Police while running away from danger.. The Police could not officially conclude who had started the fight and hence gives the both of them stern warning in lieu of prosecution.. well even though the other punk got some previous track record of affray before this.. Guess what, the Police forwarded this decision to my organisation who decided to punish him for getting into trouble.. Despite numerous attempts to appeal to my HR that he was the victim, with no concrete evidence to prove his innocence, (Well if the Police cannot find any, how can I??) his promotion and bonuses SINCE last July was withheld until further notice by the Policy Department.. What bullshit!!! Ten months on and they cannot decide whether his bonus is forfeited..

Things can only be better... Lets pray hard for the turn of events..

A Useless wimp that work for me

Sometimes, it is so hard and difficult to function as a boss.. On one hand, i find it onus on me to groom people under my wings while the other hand killing his career to let him know not to take the organisation for a ride. Why is there such a wimp ever exist in this world? I just do not understand..

HSBC Tree Top Walk

Green green nature.. ringg ..g.g ..g.g. g. g . g .. g . g. g gg .g . g.g .g .. g. g. its 0800hrs, my close childhood friend, Kenneth, woke me up with my phone.. Its so early for a holiday.... We were going to HSBC Tree Top Walk with him and 4 others.., My wife, his wife and 2 of his friends..

Its has been a long time since I last visit the trail.. This was one of the most visited places suring our courtship period.. Those were the days..


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Estella's First Cereal

My Estella first Cereal... After 5 months, we finally decided to feed our little princess some solid food we bought from Cold Storage 2 nights ago.. Initially, I was so worried that she might puke everthing out, instead, she yearns for it after a few spoonful fed..

Her licking actions is sooooo cute.. my adorable princess..

Carrefour's promotion offer always never materialise at cashier.

Promotion, promotion.. Buy 2 at a cheaper price, and so says the price tag and the promotion card.
When I pay at the cashier, I was charged the usual price.. This is carrefour sales tactics, or seemingly so. The payment is never accurate for promotion items.. I have claimed a refund for similiar incidents, where i was overcharged on the items that i purchase, at least on ten other occasions. If i have not checked the receipt, i would never ever find out about it.

It is so frustration, there are times where i have to queue up at the customer service counter to get my refund for a problem created by carrefour. Fueling my anger further, my feedback on this on previous occasion never seems to entertain or i guess the management is simply cannot be bothered. If there computer system cannot handle the last minute arrangement for all promotions, then forget about it.. Rather than putting it up and lie to the customer that they are actually paying at a lower price or even getting a bargain.

Today, i visited carrefour again, the same old thing happened.. I decided to blow things up. I lost my cool on the inefficiency of the management, and demand an answer on how carrefour manage the accurate pricing and payment for promotion items. If they do not get back to me by next week, i would blow it and flash it in national papers, especially straits times. How many more ignorant customers will continue to be cheated on their money? Someone must take the first step.. I guess its me.. I just feel that It is just wrong to keep quiet on this unethical business tactics after so many past incidents and feedback made and nothing is done..

Money.. Root of all evil or catalyst of comfort?

Money money money.. It sound so funny.. In a rich man world..

Is it the root of all evil? But without it, life is full of misery too.. I certainly wont complain if I have plenty of it..

Well, money is also the source for disharmony not only for me and my wife but many other couples out there.. And it has also became one of the key reasons for divorce..

There is a constant comparison on how her colleagues were pampered by their husband, gifts, allowances, so on and so forth. But sometime, we failed to recognise the fact that we have different financial commitment and expenditure needs.. Haise, women..

Fortunately, for my wife only feel unbalance for a while and came back to reality after complaining..

Growing Up.. Estella getting prettier every single day...

Growing up... This is a stage that no parents would not want to miss the growing up of their little ones.. Even if there were to be one, I will definitely not be the one..

I took my little princess to East Coast Park to get some breather of cool and fresh air rushing from the sea while my queen went for her 5km run.. I took this opportunity to capture gorwing moments of my little one.. Look at her smile..

Left out

Being left out..... I guess this is not something that most people with pride can take..

I partake in a race, no no, a reserve runner, in a team that emerge victorious.. My junior, who was told as a reserve initially was only informed this morning that he did not make the team.. Yes, just before the race started.. Adding salt to wound, there was no winner medal prepared for him.. I wonder how he feels.. No matter how he feels, the team manager did not manage his feelings at all..

My Incredible India Trip

24 days, 21 hours and 5 minutes spent in Incredible India..

Well, it is not exactly a holiday or an excursion trip.. I was there for something else, rounding off with a 2 days trip to towns and cities in Northern India.. I armed myself with my latest photography toy, Panasonic LZ8 to compensate my fear of bringing DSLR to this incredible place.. The level of dust and undulating terrain that I (my camera) might be exposed to is just a risk too high..

I guess like what a lot of photographer may argue.. It is in the photographer that brings the story to life than just taking good quality pictures with nothing to tell.. I hope my PnS can tell you plenty of it..

Poverty
This place houses one of the poorest global citizens... I felt more than fortunate to be living in Singapore.. Kid beggars, begging for money and food from us.. Seemingly deprived of proper sanitation and food for many days..

Taj Mahal

Touching one of the finest art and wonder of the world.. Taj Mahal.. This the highlight of my trip to this incredible place..

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

Brother in hospital

4.41am.. Ring ring.. Dad called.. "Jason went into fits seizure.. and is on the way to Changi General Hospital in am ambulance, mum's with him.." I went into a state of shock.. Ok ok.. My wife and I did a quick change and rushed our way to hospital.. Fortunately, my brother is out of danger.. But has to stay in hospital for another few more days for observations and scans..

Traffic Police

Before the end of rat year, i was caught speeding, travelling 106km/hr on a 70km/hr road.. Dun get me wrong, the road is a straight 3 km road that practically every motorist sped beyond the limit.. I was just the "lucky" guy caught in the act. It summed up my unlucky rat year.. Yesterday, somehow, something just went thru my mind while i was driving, I slowed down in the process from a speeding speed.. It wasnt any thoughts in particular, just a sudden feeling to think of something.. Then 5 traffic police on bikes went passed me.. Phew.. It was weird, but it saved me.. This is gonna be a good year for me..

Manchester United Winning Streak

Goal.......... Ryan Giggs scores.. With his right foot.. This is going to be Manchester United year.. 2 points lead with a game in hand.. 3 more months to go..

Recently, my boss was telling me in the annual appraisal that working is akin to a soccer game.. You can be the best team in the league, scoring tons of goals, complete your task beyond expectations, but if you are also letting in a lot of goals in the process, you still lose the game.. Conceding goals in my organisation context is sometime beyond comprehension.. What can I do to prevent my subordinates from making mistakes? I asked myself.. The goals that i let in is akin to my goalkeeper who is so weak to stop any shots that comes his way.. What can i do? I am in a sticky position that i cannot sack incapable guy on the job, and hours of guidance did not work.. On the hindsight, I still cannot think of a way.. Not even all my colleagues can think of one.. Not even my boss when he was talking to me.. "Its just bad luck"... No fault of my boss, just how my organisation works. Its all water under bridge, this year looks a good one for me.. Hopefully, good luck follows me this year..

Chinese New Year Visit to Jementah

Gong Xi Gong Xi Gong Xi Ni... 296km from my place to this little town called Jementah... This is where my grandma-in-law stays... This is the first CNY visit to her place since exchanging marriage vows with my lovely wife in 2006. This year was more significant and meaningful to take the long journey, we brought new little member in the family along, Princess Estella.. She was the darling of the town... Every Uncles and Aunties, even the cousins took turns patiently to carry this princess..

I took this opportunity to travel to Malacca to take some photos and visit places.. Oh yar, its less than 60km from Jementah, but even so, it took me 2 hours to reach the coastal area.. The traffic jams is incredible, after exiting the North-South Highway, it took us 1 1/2hrs to travel 15km to reach the heart of Malacca.. guess what, the popular Chicken rice ball stall just sold the last plate of rice 10mins before our arrival.. Haise, we then turn to "He Ji" to ensure that my trip is not wasted..

Photography took over after the meal..






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First day of Lunar New Year

Happy 牛 Year to all of my readers.... I was busy visiting my relatives the whole day and went back to perform my duty in the evening in camp.. All my relatives were excited and played with my Princess Estella the moment we stepped into the apartment...

I found one article from wikipedia which has interesting facts about Lunar New Year

First day of the new year
The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before. Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers. While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards, which have resulted in increased number of fires around New Years and challenged municipal fire departments' work capacity. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain premises of the city. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience.

Second day of the new year
Incense is burned at the graves of ancestors as part of the offering and prayer ritual. The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Traditionally, daughters who have been married may not have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently. On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the sex gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs. Business people of the Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer to start their business on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. The prayer is done to pray that they will be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business for the year.

Third and fourth days of the new year
The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends due to the following schools of thought. People may subscribe to one or both thoughts.
1) It is known as "chì kǒu" (赤口), meaning that it is easy to get into arguments. It is suggested that the cause could be the fried food and visiting during the first two days of the New Year celebration.
2) Families who had an immediate kin deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead, but people may visit them on this day. Some people then conclude that it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead.

Fifth day of the new year
In northern China, people eat Jiǎozi (simplified Chinese: 饺子; traditional Chinese: 餃子), or dumplings on the morning of Po Wu (破五). This is also the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on this day, accompanied by firecrackers.

Seventh day of the new year
The seventh day, traditionally known as renri 人日, the common man's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older. It is the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten. This is a custom primarily among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore. People get together to toss the colourful salad and make wishes for continued wealth and prosperity. For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat.
Chinese New Year's celebrations, on the eighth day, in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Ninth day of the new year
The ninth day of the New Year is a day for Chinese to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven (天公) in the Taoist Pantheon. The ninth day is traditionally the birthday of the Jade Emperor. This day is especially important to Hokkiens and Teochews (Min Nan speakers). Come midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Offerings will include sugarcane as it was the sugarcane that had protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago. Tea is served as a customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person. Fifteenth day of the new year

The fifteenth day of the new year
This is celebrated as Yuánxiāo jié (元宵节), otherwise known as Chap Goh Mei in Fujian dialect. Rice dumplings Tangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns. This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.

Reunion Dinner.. 2009.. Sending Rat home safely and Grand Welcome to Ox..

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī (除夕, abbr. for 年除夕 Niánchúxī, Chúxì in Taiwan). It literally means "Year-pass Eve". Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours, as well as cultures with whom the Chinese have had extensive interaction. These include Aboriginal Taiwanese people, Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873. In Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and other countries or regions with significant Han Chinese populations, Chinese New Year is also celebrated, and has, to varying degrees, become part of the traditional culture of these countries. In Canada, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many ethnic Chinese hold large celebrations and Canada Post issues New Year's themed stamps in domestic and international rates.

Reunion dinner

A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far away, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish. In some areas, fish (simplified Chinese: 鱼; traditional Chinese: 魚; pinyin: yú) is included, but not eaten completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" (traditional Chinese: 年年有餘; simplified Chinese: 年年有余; pinyin: nián nián yǒu yú) sounds the same as "may there be fish every year."

This year, coincidentally, both my younger brother is visiting his Hongkong relatives-to-be and my Sis-in-law is going Eastern Malaysia for her Chinese New Year visits and I ended up having 2 feasts in 2 days..

On Saturday, its also a time to get together with my Grandma at my parents' place.. We had sumptuous dinner glittered with Crab and abalone as the highlight of our steamboat dinner..

Sunday was fantastic feast with roast pork and steamed prawns as my favourite..

Hmm.. As the tradition goes, we had lotsa surpluses..

Year of the Ox is going to be a good year.. Winning 4D, Bid Sweep and Toto all the way...

"Yummm.m m.m.mm.m m mm.... . . . . . ... Seng. . ... .."

Estella got her passport

Personal passport for my Princess Estella.. I had applied for a passport via the net about 1-2 weeks ago, intending to visit relatives in Malaysia, Jementah, this Lunar New Year.. Somehow the photo printed on the passport seems uglier than the one that i had submitted.. Especially with the doctored "hair" on her head.

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Look alike??



Estella and her Mother

My first try at HDR

I have been scrolling through CS on HDR works.. The results seems amazing, with a tweak of the exposure, different results of the photo can be altered. Sometimes, the good photographer can make the photo look so painting like.. I thought it was easy, but never though.. I had tried floating platform, but the subject was cluttered by a lot of "accessories".. Hence, the effects was not what I had expected.. same thing for the little park outside my flat..

Finally, I thought this would looked better (If you think this is bad, then forget about my other works..) I went to Tanjong Rhu and took a few shots of the bridge linking to Singapore Indoor Stadium, toying with the shutter settings and got a few different exposures to create my HDR photo.. Cheers, more to come..