Hungry? Must Eat!

"Cousin-in-law" has a new camera and food blog. Check out his site:

http://hungrymusteat.blogspot.com

Capacity for learning ...

The boy has been using my iPhone has figured out how to use the intuitive "swiping" navigation technique for some time now. He also knows how to recognise familiar faces in photographs. So last week after enjoying a nice lunch at NYNY with a huge root beer float *sluurrpps!* :P, I decided to test if he is able to combine these 2 skills ...

Singapore Street View

Google Maps has finally done street view for Singapore.

Here are a few of my favourite scenes:

Kranji Dam
KPE Tunnel
Benjamin Sheares Bridge
Mandai Road
Old Upper Thomson Road (No feeding the monkeys!)
Changi Coast Road
Lim Chu Kang Road a.k.a. "40 Tiang" (Watch out for highway patrol!)
Yishun Dam
Airport Blvd
Telok Paku @ Changi Beach
Kg Wak Hassan

Who knows, if you are lucky, you may spot yourself in the street view scene!

Farm Food

Recently, I've bookmarked these 3 eateries which were once purely agricultural places. They were all near our home so we decided to check them out.

Firstly, Vanilla Pod. This is the most classy of the 3 places. Nice classy restaurant with great view and ambience in the afternoon. See my previous blog entry here.


Petals and Leaves Bistro (click for slideshow)

Secondly, last week we went to the Petals and Leaves Bistro. Slightly further away in the Kranji area. The food choices were not as extensive as a normal restaurant but were quite adequate. Choices were mainly "western" dishes with some local selections.

They had a big pond for fishing (not sure what kind of fish though) and an activity corner for children. There is also an outdoor playground (although it is a bit run down). This place also has facilities for wedding/dinner receptions and farmstays. Overall, a nice place to have lunch or even stay for a quiet weekend.


Poison Ivy Bistro (click for slideshow)

Finally, this weekend we went to Poison Ivy. SIL saw our photos from Petals and Leaves so we decided to have a family outing to the Kranji area for lunch.

Compared to P&L, it was more "farm like". For $2 you can walk into their farm and see where they grow their organic veggies, which were also available for sale and for lunch. The food on their menu were all local dishes. We ordered quite a bit and the food tastes home cooked and quite nice. Price wasn't too expensive. We had healthy brown rice and quite a number of dishes and it cost us only about $10 per head.

We'll definitely be back to Kranji. Who knows, maybe farm hopping next time?

If you are interested, here's a LINK to google maps to get started. More info can also be found here: http://www.kranjicountryside.com/

Jailbreak

Trying to get used to the new Simpson's iPhone ...

It's been a while ...

4th October 2009, that was the last entry on this blog.

Things have been pretty crazy in October and November.

First of all, the bid which we have been working hard on over the past year has just been awarded. HURRAH! What that meant was a whole bunch of preparation work in mid-October, followed by a LONG (2 week) training trip up to San Diego.


Pacific Ocean Sunset, La Jolla, San Diego (Click for slideshow)

San Diego Trip
Many people say that San Diego has got one of the best climates in the world, and I couldn't agree more. It's nice, cool and dry all year round. Not much natural disasters and generally a nice, peaceful place to live in.

Anyway, our training here was pretty tiring as we had a continuous 10 days of training (Yes, INCLUDING weekends). This is because of the tight schedule and as such we cannot afford to delay the start of the project because of training. In spite of this, we still managed to go out in the evenings for dinner, some shopping and generally to soak in some of the evening sights.

All in all, it was a fruitful trip. Fruitful in the sense that both the official (i.e. training) and unofficial (i.e. shopping and eating) objectives were achieved. :D

Back Home
After the tiring trip, we had only 1 day of rest before work started. And work was full day meetings and discussions for almost 2 more continuous weeks! Nothing much exciting to blog here though.

Finally
Now that the initial stage of the project is done, we can finally take a short breather before the next phase starts in a week's time. (Just to let you know in case you do not see any more updates here, you know I am busy working. REALLY.)

-= SONDAMBI =-

What do you get when you put a Korean chio bu together with some others plus catchy/funky music? SONDAMBI!! And very entertaining MVs :-D

iPhone 3GS

I was looking around for a phone for some time since a couple of months ago. My main criteria was that the phone must allow me to enter data fairly quickly and have a large enough screen for surfing the net, so I narrowed it down to the Nokia N97 because it has an external keyboard.

In the end, curiosity about the new iPhone 3GS got the better of me, and now I am the owner of a 32GB 3GS ... and a SingTel contract.

I've been using the 3GS for nearly a month now. My phone is not "jailbroken" and is currently running on OS 3.1. This is what I think:

Likes:
- fast and smooth user friendly interface
- a whole lot of applications available
- Huge built-in memory for all kinds of stuff
- keyboard in landscape mode works better than a physical one (I can type almost as fast as if I am on a full sized keyboard now!)
- Location based services aplenty, and current location is determined quite accurately
- many accessories in the market

Dislikes:
- iTunes not exactly very zippy or user friendly. Not used to their "sync" concept.
- Battery power lasts about a day (less if you use Wifi and 3G data)
- Proprietary OS imposes restrictions on developer's apps (e.g. developer's applications are single threaded and not multi-threaded) I used to have a timer application running on my Nokia to remind me when to put my eyedrops. The iPhone has a similar app but requires it to run in the foreground. If you close it, it doesn't work anymore.
- A number of restrictions on the OS, most noticeable is the lack of Bluetooth file transfer (i.e. I cannot send files or pictures to someone else using Bluetooth)
- You cannot replace the built-in Calendar application with a better third party application
- There is no TASKS and TODO lists available on the iPhone
- The battery is part of the phone and not user replaceable.

I'm sure there's more but these are just the main ones which I can think about right now. Overall it is a good phone, but does it live up to it's hype? Well almost ...

Updates

A friend told me that my blog has not been updated for some time now. My reply was that there was either nothing to blog about (totally unbelievable) or most of the recent events are more private and not suitable to be posted in a public blog. It is actually more the latter.

Anyhow, this is my first post after a long break (skipped the whole of September in fact), just to say that I am still around. :)

Lunch @ Vanilla Pod

Decided to try out Vanilla Pod for a nice quiet Saturday lunch as it was near our place. When we reached there just after 12pm, it was quiet. Wandered around and found the restaurant after asking the staff. The main restaurant is hidden behind the garden. There is also a cafe/bar at the front with nice cosy sofas (maybe next time can try chilling out here).

Anyway, we weren't big eaters so we ordered soup and shared a plate of pork knuckles which we almost couldn't finish. Overall the ambience was really nice and peaceful. Good place for a stress free lunch or chit-chat.

Will probably come back here to try other stuff on their menu like pasta, pizzas and dessert.

Trabeculectomy

Most of the people whom I know who have recently gone for eye surgery were to improve their vision, and I will be going today too, but it's to save mine. Yes, the right eye which has stabilised for the past year has gone hay-wire again. The IOP (i.e. eye-pressure) spiked again, even when I am on 3 types of meds. This leaves me not much of a choice but to go for a Trabeculectory to relieve the pressure.

The op is this afternoon and I am supposed to fast from 10:30 am. I just finished my last sip from my Slurpee about an hour ago and I'm already feeling a bit thirsty :P. Anyway, hope this op will fix this problem once and for all.

---[Updates]---------

30 Jul 2009:
Reached early for surgery. Drove myself and Dad there. Wifey would be driving us home after the op. The surgery went pretty smoothly although it was kinda scary at times. Especially when injecting anesthetic near the eye and during the surgery itself. The entire duration was about half-hour, and near the end it was a bit painful as I can feel the stitching done near the cornea as the anesthetic was wearing out.

31 Jul 2009:
First review at the doc went ok. Doc said the op went "uneventfully". Did some cleaning up of the eye and Doc said pressure was at 8 mm/Hg (Ideal is about 10-12 mm/Hg).

3 Aug 2009:
Second review at the doc. Doc measured pressure and it dropped to 4 mm/Hg. Was told to reduce frequency of medication to help increase the pressure. Next review on Wed.

12 Aug 2009:
Third review at the doc. Doc measured pressure and it was still at 4 mm/Hg. He did not seem too concerned as he is confident that the healing process will eventually bring up the pressure. Further check on the retina and vessels did not show any bleeding or wrinkling so everything seemed to be fine. Next review will be 2 weeks later.

24 Aug 2009: Fourth review at the doc. Eye was feeling prickly and the surface of the eye seems to have some wrinkling whenever I look to the centre. So went to see the doc earlier to see if anything is wrong. Thought I would have a long wait since I didn't have an appointment but surprisingly there weren't much patients. Doc checked and said it was ok, the wrinking was caused by excess fluid being filtered out and showed that the Trabeculectomy was working fine. Pressure was up to 6 mm/Hg, just out of the official hypotony range. Vision has improved slightly and the next review will be in mid-Sep.

Orchard Central

Yesterday was wifey's facial appointment again. So I was a CentrePoint kid for an hour or so. Was a bit lazy so spent some time in the car listening to music before heading out to the mall to take a walk around. Didn't manage to buy anything during that half hour walk though.

After wifey was done, we went over to the new Orchard Central mall just across the road from CentrePoint. It was an interesting experience. Designed by DP Architects and developed by Far East Organisation, it is touted as Singapore's first "Vertical Mall" at Orchard. The building is narrow and tall. Even though not all the shops were open, you could get a feel of how it would be like when it is fully "operational".

The building has lots of steel and glass. Glass lifts and plenty of escalators. They even have a rock climbing area at the long and narrow atrium. Yesterday, they were playing jive music and some shoppers (not sure of they were really shoppers) were dancing the jive at the atrium!

The shopping area is divided into various clusters. There are 12 floors in total with about 8 floors of shopping. All the levels are longish in design. Some of the shops are "open concept" and you actually walk through them without knowing where is the actual "entrance". Most of the retail shops are fashion with some sports shops on the 4th and 5th level. Although the concept is refreshing, it could get a bit confusing trying to navigate through the shops.

The highlight of the day was the rooftop garden at the 11th and 12th floor. Although not officially ready, we managed to walk through the "construction area" and got to see the view from the top floor of OC, nice! I think the view would be much nicer at night. I am also guessing that there is going to be some restaurants on the roof garden when it is complete. Too bad I did't bring my camera along. Will definitely come back again to take a look next time.

Comparing Home Loans

If you are looking at financing (or re-financing) your property in Singapore to save $$$. Check out this website => SMARTLOANS.SG

Has a cool wizard to perform calculations for you, and you can see what the various banks are offering before contacting them for more details.

Sanctuary

Everybody has their little space in the world. Some find comfort in a little place at home, some at the poolside, at the beach or even (yes) in the bathroom.

Mine just happens to be in a little portable 1.5m x 2.5m space behind the steering wheel. Yes, it's the car.

It's where I spend 2 hours a day (or more), and I enjoy the time when I am driving alone on the way back home. Whether I'm sad, stressed, angry etc. a slow drive home with the appropriate music usually fixes things.

Even during the day, this little private sanctuary provides comfort during lunchtime or when I need a break from the office. Because it is portable, I can choose my environment and ambience depending on my mood.

Anyway, today was no exception. With several things on my mind, the usual 20 minute drive took me twice as long, and the music twice as loud. Surprisingly, I wasn't even bothered by all the inconsiderate drivers...

Imagine ...

Your Section had received orders to take this very important hill at all costs. Intel informed you that the area is lightly defended, so you take only what you need. When you arrived, you find yourself surrounded by a well entrenched platoon, supported by mortar fire. You press on ...

It was an uphill battle. One Section against so many enemy troops, you are outnumbered. Fighting for days, you grow tired. Reinforcements are badly needed, but none were in sight. You begin to wonder about the real importance of this hill ...

Suddenly, HQ radios in that reinforcements were available. They join in the fight. However, as they were engaging the enemy, some of your comrades are hit by their friendly fire ...

Through the smoke, you can see the objective at the top of the hill is now near. The battle is nearly over. In a hours time, you could be standing on top of the hill and planting your flag. However, even though the battle could be won, the war is not over.

Your troops are exhausted and some are wounded. You are still stuck with your reinforcements, and there is a high chance of an enemy counter attack. The question is, will you stay and defend because of that piece of land, or because you fought so hard for it?

Flock 2.5

Testing out posting a blog entry using Flock 2.5, the "Social" web browser ...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Palawan Beach

It's been ages since I set foot on a beach. So last Monday we took the opportunity to take leave and bring the boy to let him experience sand under his feet. We chose Monday morning because there would be less people at the beach, even though it is currently the school holidays.

Reached there bright and early (10 a.m.) and immediately found a nice secluded spot (with a shelter) at the breakwater on Palawan Beach. Had our KFC breakfast at the private beach with the birds (and a squirrel!). The weather that day was really nice and cool. If only I had brought a hammock ... :-)

Anyway, after breakfast, the boy experienced sand for the first time. He initially stood on one leg (the one with the shoe still on) ... and after removing both shoes, he didn't dare to move after walking a few steps! I guess either he is not used to the prickly sand, or maybe his feet are still too sensitive.

Anyhow, it was a nice relaxing morning and we left before it got too hot at noon. Maybe next time can come back to explore Siloso Beach (more happening) or Tanjong Beach (more private).

Click HERE for the slideshow

Father's Day 2009

This is the first Father's Day that I am officially "celebrating". Last year, the boy was only 1 month old. So the attention was on the 1 month celebrations.

Anyway, lunch was on wifey (of course, and just as well since I lost my wallet the day before!), and I picked the location. Chose Friends @ Jelita because they currently have a 1-for-1 promotion going on for their set lunch and dinner.

Their set lunch and dinner is a tad expensive, so it was good that they had a 1-for-1. Anyway, the food is not bad. Enjoyed a peaceful lunch, mostly because the boy was asleep, but had to rush through dessert and tea as he was awake by then.

Click photo for slideshow.

Lost ...

Have you ever done something and later you realised that it's the dumbest thing you have ever done? That happened to me last Friday.

To keep a long story short, I basically left my wallet on top of the car. Moral of the story is not to leave anything OUTSIDE the car. If you have to leave something, dump it somewhere INSIDE (unless you want to lose it of course).

Being "Cool"

The boy is growing fast. It is amazing to see him develop his skills, especially his emotions. Luckily for us, being happy is something which he tends to show quite often. Soon, he will learn a host of other emotions, some desirable and others not, and these will be displayed freely.

Once upon a time, we were all like this, free with our emotions. I don't know when one starts to learn to put a "filter" on them. Different people learn different "filters" and I guess that partly contributes to the development of our personality.

I don't get called names often but the ones that I always hear are things like "Mr. Cool" or "Cool Man" etc. Why? I guess I may have too many "filters" in place. How did they get there? Maybe it's being the eldest in the family, or having to take on more responsibility and provide a good example to siblings. Well, no idea really.

How does one change then? I got a clue from last week's course on leadership. The trainer mentioned that the human mind consists of 10% consciousness and 90% unconsciousness. To get to the 90%, we have to go through that 10%. My guess is that all these filters are in that unconscious part of the brain and I will need to exercise a lot of practice through the conscious brain in order to effect a change.

So technically it seems one can change his or her personality, and it's really a matter of conscious re-learning.

Commitment

What is commitment?

Does doing a project and working more than 100 hours of OT, sacrificing valuable family time and having your health affected count?

What happens when after all these, the boss of the project tells your team to stop "messing around" and wants to put everyone in a room for a week to "focus" on completing more tasks?

Is it a question of commitment? Productivity? Or is there some other motive?

A Tale of two House-cleaners

We have a house-cleaner which comes every alternate week to clean up the house. Recently, we had to change to another cos the previous one decided to do some food business.

Anyway, both are friends and they are from China. However, when it comes to working, one of them will spend 10% of the working time playing with the boy, and sometimes will take "urgent leave", resulting in us having to skip one week of cleaning or do it ourselves.

The other is very hardworking. She is here every week and even works to the extent of doing OT (overtime) for an extra half hour. Furthermore, she refused to accept payment for the OT saying that it was OK! What surprised us was that even though she is not making much, she gave the boy an Ang Pow for his birthday!

Luckily for us, this is our current house-cleaner. The next time she does OT we will insist on her getting paid. Where to find such attitude these days?

Hot Park

In case you are wondering of there was a spelling error on the title of this entry, there isn't. The title appropriately describes our experience this morning at the HortPark off Alexandra Road.

We decided to bring the boy down to HortPark today for a short morning walk before lunch. I guess we were a bit late and the weather ended up very hot. There were plenty of things to see for the greenfinger but other than that, it was just heat and sweat. Anyway, we managed to explore most part of the park even though we had to rush from shade to shade.

If you are ever thinking of going there, best time is EARLY morning or LATE evening.

Click photo for slideshow.

Numbers

As Wifey got out of the car with the boy, she suddenly stopped and stared. What's up, I asked. She told me to look at the cars in front ...



It's a sign. All the three cars parked in front of us had license plates with 2, 2, 3 & 4 in them. The first thing that came into our minds was "System Roll". Yeah, let's hope we get lucky.

Visit to the Zoo

It's been ages since I've visited the zoo. The last time I was there, Kidz World wasn't even developed yet. So it was no wonder that I didn't know it existed till a colleague told me about it and I went to check the website.

Anyway, wifey got a weekday pass for the Zoo from her office, and it happens to cover the boy's actual birthday. So to give him an extra treat, and for us to take a break from the office, we decided to go make day trip to the Zoo.

Other than the usual pram, baby bag etc. I also brought along the K20D with 2 lenses. It was lots of stuff to carry around and I guess it was also great exercise.

Of the whole trip, the boy enjoyed himself thoroughly at the Kidz World wet play area. Spent at least 2 out of the 5 hours we were there!

Next time if you are planning to drop by the Zoo and Kidz World, I would recommend weekdays, even if it means taking leave. It is totally worth it!

Click on the photo below to see the slideshow.

The Boy's 1st Birthday

We have never organised any kind of party in our lives. The only thing that came close was the first month celebration for the boy, and that was a simple affair with just food and nothing else.

So when it came to his first birthday, we took some time to decide whether to "outsource" it, or to plan our own. In the end, we opted to do something ourselves and held it at the function room at our place.

We kept it simple, with mainly relatives and some close friends, catered food, simple decorations but splurged a bit more on the cake.

It was a tiring day but I think we managed to pull it off. The boy enjoyed his party and left with plenty of loot ... :-D

Click on the photo below to see the slideshow!

Bad Day

Today reminded me of this song ...



Seriously, things didn't go well right from the start of the day. It rained heavily last night, so I sort of expected traffic to be heavy, but that was an understatement.

The first encounter was less than 3 minutes after I got onto the KJE. Usually, it is NEVER jammed, so when there was slow traffic, something really bad probably has happened. Something bad actually did. A Malaysian truck carrying loads of EGGS has overturned on the ramp from KJE to BKE(PIE). I was stuck in the ensuing jam, PLUS I had to drive over the raw eggs on the road to get past!

The next few encounters weren't so sensational, but all in all, there were 3 accidents and 2 vehicle breakdowns along the way to Commonwealth. After dropping of the boy more than an hour after I left the house, wifey declared that she forgot her office pass ... so back we went home to pick it up.

We have up going to office in the morning and took half-day leave. And oh, did I mention that I missed the exit home, had to do a short detour and got the car got splashed with muddy water at a U-turn? And what about the fact that I just washed the car yesterday night? :-(

Anyhow, after we had lunch, we set off again on the same route. Unfortunately, I did not realise that 3 hours later, they had TOTALLY CLOSED the KJE to BKE(PIE) exit and were still cleaning up the eggs! They were sweeping the eggs to one side and the raw egg juice was flowing all over the place! This meant another jam, long detour and driving across raw eggs AGAIN!

I finally reached the office at about 1pm for a meeting. It was then that I found out that the 1pm meeting didn't really need me, and the other 3pm meeting has been postponed to Wednesday. !@#$%

Obviously, the day ended with a much needed car wash and probably will be an early night. Will buy 4D tomorrow, "0405" System Roll ...

SG Driving Encounters

If you're bored, here is a bunch of videos captured from the DVR on board my ride ...

SG Driving Encounters video slideshow

Exercise

My weight has been hovering 3kg above my "ideal" for many months now. This is mainly due to lack of exercise. So after several months of being a lazy ass, I finally went swimming on today!

Yeah, swimming, a couple of breadth-wise laps, then the kids swimming lessons started. The pool suddenly became infested with little pests and it was time to go.

Will try to find time (only time available is when the boy is asleep) to swim more or go to the gym. To get some motivation, I think it's time to start on ACV again. Will go buy some from NTUC next week.

Rental Cars

Been driving rentals for the past couple of trips. This last trip was the ultimate as I was one of the "official" drivers in Texas.

Chevy HHR
Drove this little car (well, not exactly little by Singapore standards) in California. Had no idea what it was when the lady asked me to choose between this and a Mazda 5. Heck, Chevy HHR it was.

I only drove it for an hour or two as we stayed in California for only 1 day. The car had pretty good insulation and soundproofing but was a letdown in the interior. The rear seats were small and the finishing felt plasticky. Also, the steering had no feel whatsoever. You can't feel the road and basically driving it felt like playing a video game (without force feedback!).



Ford Expedition
This was the BIGGEST car that I ever drove. Spent 4 days with it being one of the official chauffeurs. 5.4 litre V8, sounds impressive? Not so when plunked into this mini 3-tonner. It's huge, hard to park and performance isn't my cup of tea. That said, its reasonably comfortable and can seat 7-8 with still room for a couple of suitcases of luggage. Great for shopping and burning up earth's natural resources.

Home Sweet Home ...

Back for a couple of days now after an interesting week overseas (California and Texas). Nothing beats the humidity here. I think I prefer it to the cold dry weather in Texas.

Anyway, I'm currently still trying to recover from a case of sore throat / cough. And if you are wondering, no, it's not Swine Flu and there is no such thing as Swine Cough!

Noise Reduction

After approximately 20 hours of flight time, I am back in San Diego. The familiar streets and food was comforting. I am back in the same hotel (and maybe even the same room!)

Anyway, the flight this time was pretty comfortable as I was armed with my new Panasonic RP HC-31 active noise cancelling earbuds. If you travel by air a lot, I would recommend one of these. I prefer these to the over-the-ear type simply because they are lighter, smaller (i.e. easier to carry around), and does not clamp onto the sides of your head or mess up your hair.

With the earbuds on, I managed to watch 3 movies comfortably and put in about 4-5 hours of continuous sleep (with the noise-cancellation on and no audio) which I normally would not be able to do.



Anyway, I am now waiting for breakfast after a night of Tacos, Tortilla Chips, a Margarita and a HUGE dessert. Don't think I will be able to eat much this morning ...

"Standalone" Sushi Outlet

Being pretty busy with work over the past few week-ends, it was a luxury this week to be able to have dinner on a Saturday night with family. We wanted to go to IMM to do some shopping, but didn't want to fight with the crowd. And I remembered seeing a small Sakae Sushi "building" nearby IMM, so there we went to check it out.

Food is typical Sakae sushi, but the outlet was a "standalone" building by itself. Parking was free, and it reminded me of the restaurants in the US. Arriving there at 6pm, it wasn't that crowded we found the ambience to be pretty good. Even the boy was impressed (I think, cos he never really started whining and fidgeting).

Anyway, we had our fill before the crowd started arriving.

The Art of Walking (with two balls) ...

The boy has been practicing walking for the past month or so and I think he's got the hang of it. The walks started about 2-3 weeks ago from an independent step or two, to several metres now, including changing direction. Lately, he's also started to carry stuff around, like his favourite toy balls as well as a washbasin!

Anyway, what that means now is it's even more difficult to keep an eye on him as he could run off pretty quickly!

MIL's Birthday Dinner

We celebrated MIL's birthday with a small dinner at a restaurant called "Zi Ran", which is "Natural" if literally translated to English. It's a small Chinese restaurant located near Redhill MRT. Food is not bad and it seemed pretty popular. The sexy chopstick holders were a tad out of place though. See if you can spot them in the slideshow ... :-P

CHINON REVUENON 200mm f3.3

Stressful times at work call for retail therapy. And since there is no time to go for such therapy during the day or weekends, it can only then be done in front of the PC at night.

EBay, my favourite website for great online deals.

The latest "toy" is a CHINON REVUENON 200mm f3.3 manual prime lens. It's pretty fast for a 200mm (300mm equivalent in 35mm format). Will be trying to find some time to go to Sungei Buloh or somewhere to test out this fast telephoto. Stay tuned for some (hopefully) interesting shots!

Is it really over?

It's 2am in the morning and I just realised that I have totally neglected this blog for the past few weeks due to work. It is crazy, working long hours into the night and over the weekend too.

The past few days were especially tough, and it culminated in a "showdown" of two days of demonstration of our stuff to the customer (which ended today around 1 am!) I wonder if this is really over, or is it the beginning of something even more scary. The next few days would be spent rushing to put forth our official replies to questions raised during the demonstration so it would probably go by in a blur. I need time to recuperate, rest, snake, etc. and get ready for the next milestone.

Anyway, I haven't seen Wifey and the boy since Saturday afternoon, looking forward dinner with them tomorrow too ...

"ThudBoy"

The boy has just officially endorsed his first product, the ThudGuard.

Go to the official ThudGuard Singapore website and click on his little wobbly head to see the "endorsement video" ... Haha!

Chinese New Year 2009

Another Chinese New Year has come and gone. This year we went visiting with 3 people instead of two. It is a chance for us to claw back some of the many ang baos that we have given away over the past years.

This year, because of the tender presentations that we had ON THE WEEK OF CHINESE NEW YEAR, I wasn't really in the mood for much celebrations. We kept things simple (didn't even bother to decorate my "bamboo tree" this year). 

Anyway, here are some photos to share of this much needed break in the middle of all hectic schedule at work.

Chinese New Year 2009 Photos

Busy Birthday ...

This must be the busiest birthday ever. After working through the weekend and pulling an all nighter ON my birthday on Monday, we finally submitted our tender proposal on Tuesday. Hopefully these 3 months of hard work will pay off.

Needless to say, I was zombified after nearly 30 hours without sleep. Went home and KO from 5:00pm on Tuesday till 8:30am on Wednesday! Luckily wifey was understanding enough to voluntarily stay over at MIL place for another night so I can get my continuous 15 hours of sleep ... :-D

Anyway, Wednesday came and I was rewarded with a birthday gift as well as a lunch at Equinox. It's been ages since I was up at the 69th floor at Raffles City. The last time I was there it was still called Compass Rose!!

Overall, the lunch ambience on a weekday is great. Just the place for a quiet lunch for two, with a great view and of course free flow of foie gras ...

Flickr Videos

Flickr provides an alternative platform to YouTube for uploading videos. So far, the experience has been very good. The uploads are fast, processing for each video is fast and you can upload multiple videos at one time. Also, the video quality seems to be better than YouTube!

Here are 3 examples!

Happy New Year 2009

Instead of the usual New Year's Countdown spent at the comfort of home by the TV, this year, we decided to go down to Marina Bay to watch the live fireworks. The only reason why we did so was that our cousin had an apartment on the 21st storey at The Sail @ Marina Bay.

We left about 9:45 pm, picked up Dad and another cousin at 10:30pm. The nightmare started when we reached the Marina Bay area. Traffic was pretty jammed up and we could not find a place to park. The Sail's limited visitor lots were all taken up and we had to look elsewhere. Later, I learnt that even residents at The Sail had to ballot and pay $200+ per month for parking lots as the number of lots is less than the number of units!

Anyway, we finally managed to park at Market Street carpark (which surprisingly still had plenty of lots) and walk over to The Sail. This is where part 2 started. Apparently lots of residents also invited their guests to their apartments and the whole lift lobby was jammed up with people. We had to queue up to take the lift up to the apartments.

When we finally reached the 21st floor apartment, it was already 11:45 pm, just in time to setup the camera for the fireworks.



The apartment itself was pretty small (not furnished yet). Other than the view of the bay, it was somehow not really impressive. The finishings were pretty basic and does not feel top quality. I guess most people who can afford to buy such a unit will mind as they won't be staying there but will probably be renting it out.

Going home was also tough as everyone jammed the lifts again to get down. Overall it was a tiring but enjoyable evening.