CounterStrike for Real?

Managed to squeeze time from our busy schedules to have a project Team Building Activity. Besides the usual lunch, there was TAG PAINTBALL!

Unfortunately, due to my injury, I decided not to participate as a player but went in as a photographer instead. Less running but no less at risk from paintball ammunition. Anyway, its a good way of experiencing first hand photo journalism in a "warzone", not to mention trying out my "new" DImage A2.

Found a safe spot where I could snap away without getting hit. There were no shouts of "Go, Go, Go!" nor were there echoes of "Fire in the Hole!" ... but I guess it must have been fun nonetheless. General_

More photos HERE.

Condolences

Our deepest condolences to Ivan on the passing of his beloved father. Will be there at the wake tomorrow.

Sunset Platy

Frozen blood worms ran out and had to go to CCK Fish shop to replenish. Saw some interesting "Sunset Platies" (Xiphophorus variatus) for sale. These seem to be quite rare at local fish shops, so bought a pair for my tank. Fish_

Home Sweet Home

Came back home yesterday after nearly 3 days in HK. The last day was pretty much a waste of time. Weather was cold so didn't even bother to go do any shopping. Just slept late and woke up in time to finish packing, checkout and leave for the airport.

Met this cabby who tried to hustle me into paying HK$300 for a direct trip to the airport. No way! A cab to the Airport Express Train Station + the train ride itself cost at most HK$160 only!

At the airport, it was last minute shopping so as not to waste the entire trip on work. Spent on food, Old Wive's Biscuits (老婆饼) and lots of snacks from Ichiban. The "Wasabi Seaweed Tempura Crackers" was highly recommended by Wifey and her friends as it is not sold in Singapore. (At home, tiny greedy hands were holding on to the snack packs most of the time, even in the pictures!)

Took the Chicken Pasta for lunch on board the plane. Arrived in Singapore at about 5pm before taking a cab home. Should have booked a night flight on Friday, then at least Saturday would not be wasted ... General_

The Second Day

The day started off early. Maximised my sleep by skipping breakfast and going down to the office as late as I can. Some brief coordination with our European Partner and discussion and we were off. I did not expect so few Customer representatives to be present, but anyway the Presentation and Demonstration went pretty ok without much of a hitch. General_

After the presentation, we went for lunch at a nearby Thai style restaurant. Weather was cold even with my tie and jacket on. The food did not look or taste like typical Thai food. In fact, I thought initially it was a Chinese Restaurant. The following are some pictures that were taken.


Left to Right: An Asian Classic; Chicken Wings stuffed with Glutinous Rice; Thai Style Fried Noodles.

After lunch, it was back at the office for a debrief session. Apparently, our boss didn't think that the Presentation / Demo went well. The comment was that it only managed to meet 1 out of 4 of our objectives. Well, I guess things could have been better if only he had told us the objectives BEFORE the event and not AFTER ... duh! Anyway, this meant we had more work cut out for us in the next few weeks. *sianz 1/2* x 10

In the evening we had to send our European Partners off to the airport, so dinner was at a popular restaurant along the way, specialising in Roast Goose, a Hong Kong favourite. The place is called Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant (裕记烧鹅). The prawns and fish we had were really fresh. The following are some snaps which I had time for in between dishes.


Left to Right: The famous Roast Goose (1/2 a Goose); Steamed Fish (can't remember what kind).

Sleeping Time

Managed to complete the demo, delivered AND setup at the customer location, ready for the big show tomorrow. Just walked back from the office to the hotel. The streets in Hong Kong Island seem to be pretty deserted. I guess there should be more nightlife and activities in Kowloon. Looks like I will get about 6+ hours of sleep before moving out again tomorrow. Every minute and every second counts ... so Goodnite!

Working Late

Going to be a long night tonight. More or less finished my presentation slides for tomorrow. Gonna be short (and hopefully sharp). Now we're waiting for the Demo/Prototype to be finished and hopefully bug free as well. After that it will be moving equipment later at night. Everything needs to be ready for tomorrow's Presentation to the Customer at 10am.General_

As you can see, we are working over dinner and I have ordered takeout/delivery of Hong Kong's version of Yang Zhou Fried Rice. Darn, it tastes almost the same as what you get in Singapore so should have ordered something else. Anyway, there is still tomorrow and Saturday...

Touchdown Hong Kong

After Cactus has come back from her "happening" assignment in Hong Kong, it is my turn now. I don't think mine will be that "happening" but at least I didn't have to wake up at 5am to catch the 0645 flight (bwahaha!) ... and I brought my camera! :-P

Anyway, the fact that I can post this means that I am safely in the hotel and the broadband here works. Its been a while since I been to City Garden Hotel and I think its been renovated. The rooms and facilities look much better than before!

Meeting with HK colleagues at about 3pm, so got about half hour here post some pictures. Enjoy! General_



BTW, that was Lor Mai Kai they served on the flight ...

Ricoh R3 Firmware Update

Amazing! Another firmware update for the Ricoh R3 (v1.29) in such a short space of time. Looks like they are coming up with monthly updates ...Photography_

Drama Mamas

Finished watching some borrowed Korean Drama DVDs from Cactus with Wifey. No prizes for guessing why she is smiling! Anyway, there was something for everyone. I particularly like this look. General_

Anyway, there are more photos HERE.

Dinner at Bali ... House

Tis the season for birthdays. This is the fourth birthday within the last 30 days. Anyway, Happy Birthday to Auntie Amy! General_

Dinner was at Bali House Restaurant on the ground floor of Meridian Hotel just next to the Food Court. The restaurant had a simple Bali decor at the open air area. However, we decided not to sit outdoors as it had just rained earlier on and the floor was wet. Furthermore, the live band was not available as the hotel had a VVIP and they did not want to disturb his beauty sleep. Indoors, it looked pretty much like a normal Chinese restaurant.

There wasn't much Bali about Bali House except for the outdoor decor. Choice of food was mainly Chinese and International. This is the second time I was here and the food did not disappoint.

I particularly like the deep fried ginger shreds used for garnishing the fish. Tastes super when eating with white rice.

KooshLog: Unidentified Algae Eater (Identified)

This fish has been identified!

Morning Rainbow

This morning looked like it was going to rain. I guess there must have been lots of water vapour in the air cos I looked out of my window and there was this huge rainbow! General_

Fracture Review

Expected a LONG WAIT at the National University Hospital (NUH) for a medical review of my fracture, and that is EXACTLY what I got... GENERAL_

Arrived 15mins before time and the car park was full, had to wait 10 mins for the queue to enter the car park. Then I wasted no time looking for parking and spent 4 bucks for valet parking. Fortunately, the X-Ray department wasn't too crowded. But unfortunately, the doctor had an emergency in the morning, resulting in a huge backlog. Lots of people were complaining of the wait. The Customer Service staff were quite nice to issue $2 food vouchers to those who had to wait longer than expected, and they were advised to take their lunch before coming back to the clinic.

Anyway, I only managed to see the doctor at about 1pm even though I had a 10:45am appointment. The fracture seems to be healing well. The doc said the bone should eventually straighten/smoothen itself out over time. The following shots are taken directly off the doctor's light box and skew corrected using the R3's built-in skew correction feature. (Unfortunately one of them is out of focus)



BTW, I still have the $2 voucher (valid till 2008) with me. NUH Kopitiam anyone??

CNY Second Weekend

The second weekend of CNY was just as busy. Had events on both days. GENERAL_

7th Day
Had the honour of hosting the in-laws at our place. Mahjong was the order of the day. Also, the in-laws were lucky to be treated to lion/dragon dance organised at our estate.



These images were taken with the Olympus C-750UZ mostly at high zooms as I was shooting from the 12th floor.

8th Day
Had a gathering at a cousin's place. As 6th Feb is Dad's birthday, we had a small celebration for him. Happy 69th Birthday!

Fish Magic

Watch goldfish swim in formation. Wonder how he did this. Magnets? Robotic Aibo Fish? FISH_

Screenshots of Death ...

Discovered these cool SCREENSHOTS which I took of "dead" bodies in various poses (while scanning for images in my hard disk). They are collected from various frag sessions of CS Source. I particularly like the "Pelvic Thrust of Terror" ...

Ricoh R3 Firmware Update

This may be old news but a new firmware update for the Ricoh R3 (v1.28) is out, less than one month from the previous update! This can be taken as good news or bad news ... Photography_

Bad: The camera got lots of things to fix!
Good: Ricoh is actively working to improve the camera!

Will post some updates on the firmware improvements this evening after I download and install it.

OK, have just installed the update and tested the camera under indoor flourescent lighting conditions. Acquisition of focus seems to be faster. Otherwise, images captured are more or less the same.

Heng Heng (Lucky) Numbers

For those in Singapore going hoping for some extra pocket money this year, you may want to try these LUCKY NUMBERS. If you win, don't forget where you got the numbers from! General_