KooshLog

Hungry? Must Eat!

2009-12-19T01:41:00.004+08:00

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

http://hungrymusteat.blogspot.com

Capacity for learning ...

2009-12-19T01:31:00.010+08:00

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

2009-12-06T14:47:00.014+08:00

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

2009-12-06T02:02:00.005+08:00

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

2009-11-26T07:14:00.002+08:00

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

It's been a while ...

2009-11-23T17:52:00.007+08:00

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 =-

2009-10-04T21:53:00.007+08:00

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

2009-10-04T20:28:00.012+08:00

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

2009-10-04T09:15:00.003+08:00

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

2009-08-30T14:14:00.007+08:00

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

2009-07-30T11:23:00.010+08:00

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

2009-07-05T09:25:00.010+08:00

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

2009-07-04T13:30:00.005+08:00

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

2009-07-03T22:49:00.007+08:00

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 ...

2009-07-03T22:29:00.014+08:00

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

2009-06-27T01:22:00.001+08:00

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

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Palawan Beach

2009-06-27T00:26:00.007+08:00

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

2009-06-21T00:53:00.009+08:00

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 ...

2009-06-21T00:09:00.005+08:00

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"

2009-06-07T16:37:00.011+08:00

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

2009-06-07T16:20:00.012+08:00

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

2009-06-07T16:09:00.012+08:00

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

2009-06-06T16:22:00.007+08:00

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

2009-05-23T07:22:00.006+08:00

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

2009-05-17T10:16:00.004+08:00

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

2009-05-13T00:34:00.006+08:00

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

2009-05-04T21:58:00.007+08:00

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

2009-05-03T09:58:00.000+08:00

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

SG Driving Encounters video slideshow

Exercise

2009-05-02T22:15:00.002+08:00

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

2009-04-30T07:16:00.008+08:00

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 ...

2009-04-30T07:11:00.004+08:00

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

2009-04-20T22:46:00.011+08:00

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

2009-04-13T02:20:00.004+08:00

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) ...

2009-04-13T02:00:00.006+08:00

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

2009-04-12T20:14:00.002+08:00

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

2009-04-01T02:11:00.006+08:00

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?

2009-04-01T02:01:00.009+08:00

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"

2009-03-03T21:29:00.006+08:00

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

2009-02-16T01:20:00.005+08:00

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 ...

2009-01-23T00:03:00.005+08:00

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

2009-01-14T01:11:00.006+08:00

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

2009-01-01T17:07:00.006+08:00

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.

ThudGuard ...

2008-12-29T07:30:00.002+08:00

No more improvised helmets, now the boy has the real deal!

Hood Ornament

2008-12-28T23:30:00.002+08:00

Ferrari?? Mustang?? Rolls Royce??

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T22:10:00.010+08:00

This year's Christmas was eventful. There were plenty of gatherings with family and friends. However, somehow the mood seems to be less festive than previous years. I think maybe it's the current state of the economy, or maybe its because I am in the middle of working on a tender...

24 Dec (Christmas Eve)
There were some plans for "snaking" but most of us in the office (CPO) were invited to a corporate Christmas Lunch which was held at a restaurant in VivoCity. The food was good but the quantity not really enough. Not everyone had a chance to go for seconds. Anyway, as with any "standard" corporate lunch, there were games and prizes and also a gift exchange. Exchanged my Ferrero Rochers for box of biscuits ...

25 Dec (Christmas Day)
We postponed our Christmas BBQ to Sat, so today was a simple dinner at another cousin's place where we exchanged and opened presents for the kids.

26 Dec (Boxing Day)
Today is family day. Yes, a day for just the three of us. We mostly relaxed at home and went out for some shopping, dinner and also attempted to walk a bit of Orchard Road to look at the lights and decor. Unfortunately, it was hot, crowded and very super noisy with all the street performances and DJ music, so we only made it to the stretch in front of Takashimaya before we gave up...

27 Dec (Sat)
Two gatherings today, one for lunch and one for dinner. Lunch is at wifey's friend's place and dinner is a BBQ at my cousin's place. It was pretty much a huge logistics operation bringing the boy out for almost the whole day. The car was fully loaded with presents, baby essentials such as food, milk, diapers etc, and even his bathtub/basin and baby monitor were not left idle at home. What a tiring day!

28 Dec (Sun)
It's back to work tomorrow, but today, it is still the long weekend. Lunch was out with some of wifey's friends at a family friendly restaurant in United Square (GlobeTrotters). Got to get myself back into gear to clear up most of the work required for the current tender that I am working on. Only then can I enjoy the New Year and be less stressed.

KooshLog: Cayden's Diary: 7 months

2008-12-19T00:04:00.006+08:00

KooshLog: Cayden's Diary: 7 months

Some photos to add on to the boy's 7 month diary entry...

Spicy Noodles

2008-12-13T21:57:00.000+08:00

This is absolutely THE spiciest instant noodles I have ever come across in Singapore. If you want to try, the only place I know where you can get it is in a provision shop in Tangling Halt.

Cayden's Diary: 7 months

2008-12-08T22:26:00.004+08:00

The little boy is growing fast. He is coming to 7 months and has finally achieved his first mobility milestone ...

Last week, I was in San Diego when I received news from wifey that the boy has "discovered" crawling! I was excited. When I can back, he was really doing it. Today, he crawled towards the walker and started climbing, and he managed to get himself up into a standing position! I guess his legs are well conditioned to support his weight from the endless hours of jumping up and down.

San Diego Arrival

2008-12-01T12:41:00.007+08:00

After more than 20 hours on the road, finally arrived at San Diego via San Francisco. By the time we drove up to the hotel, it was already 5pm. Post check-in, we went to a nearby mall at La Jolla Village Drive for dinner.

Dinner was a huge burrito. After that the weather got pretty cold and foggy, so we went back to our comfortable rooms. Attached are some photos of the room itself.

San Diego

2008-11-30T05:00:00.003+08:00

Yes, I am travelling again. This time it is for a one week business trip to San Diego. It's going to be a pretty hectic five days of discussions. Will be there with two other colleagues. There's no time allocated for any sightseeing but we will probably be able to visit a mall or two in the evenings.

Cayden's Swimming Adventure

2008-11-29T22:11:00.005+08:00

From his bath time and the fun he had in Bintan, we can see that the boy loves being in the water. So the first thing we got for him after the family trip was his own swim diapers, swim suit, kiddie sun block and "deluxe" starfish kiddie float!

We took him downstairs for a short while in the late afternoon today and boy did he have fun!

Congratulations!

2008-11-26T01:24:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to Kenny, Hee Young and little Lim Yae-Na!

Family Trip

2008-11-25T23:42:00.027+08:00

This trip was mooted over half a year ago and "some" planning had gone into it. We haven't had a family trip since ... well, I can't remember ever really having one!

Anyway, since we are no experts in family holiday logistics, we decided to have ours "nearby" in Bintan. And as there were about 10+ of us, a nice "community" type place to stay was selected.

The place, a three bedroom hilltop Indra Maya villa at Nirwana Gardens Bintan.

We were originally deciding between Banyu Biru and Indra Maya villas. In the end, we decided to up our budget and go for the more "luxurious" Indra Maya as it came with a private pool (while the Banyu Biru did not).

Day 1:

The ferry was departing at 2pm so we went to Tanah Merah ferry terminal before 1pm as instructed. Parked the car at the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, bro Dom (who had all the tickets) was a bit late. This resulted in a "mad rush" (well, at least for me ... ) to check in our luggages and to board the ferry. We were the last to exit the gate and were also the last in the queue to board!

We managed to get ourselves seated nearby each other (free seating). The ferry ride was less than an hour but will seem like an eternity to those who are prone to seasickness.

We reached Bintan at 3pm (2pm Bintan time). By the time we collected our luggage, took the shuttle bus, checked-in and drove our buggy to the villa, it was coming to 5pm.

The villa itself had a rustic charm to it. Yes, it looks and feels a bit old and worn down, but still pretty acceptable. After a brief orientation of the villa, sleeping arrangements and a little freshening up, it was time to prepare for the BBQ. Bro Dan, GF and another cousin arrived via a separate ferry later in the evening after work.

The BBQ food was from City Satay which we brought over from Singapore. The raw food in Bintan is expensive. Anyway, our City Satay "Set A" + some of our own raw food was more than enough for 10 adults. In fact, there was quite a bit of left over for the next day.

Day 2:

Woken up by the boy at 7am (his usual timing). The BBQ from the previous night attracted several visitors, two of which are large monitor lizards! Of these 2, one became a regular and kept coming back several times looking for food.

Breakfast was at the nearby Mayang Sari Beach Club. Breakfast buffet was unimpressive, feels like a canteen.

After breakfast, it was exploring time. All of us managed to squeeze into the villa buggy for a trip around Nirwana Gardens. We were surprised that they had a mini "zoo" on the grounds which showcased some of the local wildlife. We also took the opportunity to visit the main resort to have a look around before going back to the villa.

After lunch, it was swimming time! All of us had a great time in the private pool. Even Cayden had his very first swimming experience! The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out around the pool area. What a relaxing day!

Day 3:

From our recce on Day 2, we found that the main resort had a much better restaurant for breakfast. So we proceeded there instead of the "canteen" at Mayang Sari, and we were not disappointed. The variety and quality of the food was much better.

Before checking out, we managed to get about an hour or more of swim time at the public pool at the main resort. More swimming fun for Cayden! This time, we even managed to dunk him underwater (although he wasn't too happy about that).

Finally we checked out of the villa around 1230hrs (Bintan time). The journey back to Singapore was pretty uneventful until the ferry ride where little Nikki decided to puke ... :-P

Anyway, all was well and everyone reached Singapore safe and sound. The total cost of parking for 3 days and 2 nights was about $38. The skies opened on the way back and we had a nice cool drive back home in the rain.

The photo album slideshow is available HERE.

I wonder where we should go the NEXT time ... :-)

"Zhng Chia" #1

2008-11-24T11:38:00.004+08:00

First performance mod, RS*R down springs. Made in Japan. Lowering: 1.4" front and rear.

Was considering Eibachs when the special offer for RS*Rs came about. Eibachs would have cost 1.5 times more.

Result:
- Looks better without the big gap between the wheels and the fenders
- Springs stiffer but ride quality still very good
- Not too low so no scraping of bodykit with the floor or speed bumps
- Better handling especially at high speed (less air going under the car) and cornering

There was no alignment done, will have to monitor for uneven tire wear and woolly steering, but so far so good.

Kerb Rash

2008-11-24T11:31:00.001+08:00

:-(

Kerb Rash ... got it two months ago at City Hall basement carpark entrance. Looks pretty severe from this close up but luckily it is not noticeable from a distance.

Picasa 3

2008-11-24T11:07:00.005+08:00

If you don't already know, Picasa 3 (non-beta release) is available for download. This new version has lots of cool features. Some of what I like (after playing around for a few minutes) are:

- viewer capability (can acts like a photo viewer)
- new fully customisable collage creator (can move, rotate, size and bring forward and backward photos in the pile)
- post entries straight to Blogger

Download your FREE copy today ... :-)

Sun and Moon

2008-11-24T11:05:00.001+08:00

A collage of photos from several visits to the Sun and Moon japanese restaurant at Wheelock Place.

Smarties

2008-11-24T10:56:00.002+08:00

Testing the N78's camera produced this Yummy shot.

Only Smarties have the Answer!! (so are you a smartie?)

E1111E

2008-11-24T10:50:00.001+08:00

I think this Hyundai Matrix has the coolest license plate number in Singapore. The number itself should be worth much more than the car!!

Parking Idiot in 6SNA5

2008-11-24T10:45:00.002+08:00

Taken at 6 Serangoon North Avenue 5 basement carpark.
Having plenty of lots in the carpark shouldn't automatically translate to irresponsible parking ...

Another new car gadget

2008-11-09T23:36:00.015+08:00

Have been using this "Rear View Mirror DVR" product now for about a month. I think it beats the el-cheapo "Drive Recorder" which I bought earlier this year.

Here are some general comments:

Pros:
- Overall package is quite nice
- Build quality is not too bad
- Wide angled adjustable camera
- Auto recording start upon ignition on
- Capture until last second upon ignition off
- Loops recorded video in first-in-first-out fashion (1GB can store approx. 100 minutes of video)
- The recorded files can be saved in 1 min, 3 min, 5 min or 10 min blocks
- There is also a feature where you can "lock" files to prevent them from being deleted / overwritten
- This thing can support 2 cameras. You can put a second camera for your car interior, or facing the rear. When there is power to this camera, the DVR and LCD will take this as the input. So by hooking up the reverse camera to the reverse lamp (for power), you can have a reverse camera view on your rear view mirror with DVR recording! You can do the same thing with the interior camera by hooking it up to the interior cabin lights (for power). That way, the interior is recorded everytime any of the car doors are open (great for taxi driver safety)!
- The unit captures audio too, not sure if this is a pro or con cos your conversation in the car will also be captured! (Good thing is that you can turn this feature off)

Cons:
- Mirror is quite big and bulky so may have a problem for those who like to use the sunshade, or those with small original mirrors which hang high
- Resolution too low (320x240), would have liked at least 640x480
- Prompts you to format SD card every 7 days, suspect it is to clean up any bad files that could have been created during ignition off
- There is date/time on the unit but somehow it cannot be captured in the video. It is used only for timestamping the recorded files
- The fast forward and rewind functions are buggy
- Price is not cheap

Although the video is not as hi-def as I would have liked, I think it would still come in handy as evidence should any accident occur through no fault of yours.

Anyway, have attached some interesting videos captured by the unit on YouTube. The quality is slightly better in the original file than what can be seen online. As you can see, both videos are of taxi drivers ...

1) Idiotic taxi who cuts into my lane, slows down, and then recklessly swerves into filter lane to avoid red light!!

2) Another taxi which abruptly cuts queue inside yellow box ...

Packed Weekend

2008-10-12T21:07:00.003+08:00

It's been a long time since I had so much activities on the weekend ...

Sat (AM):

Was supposed to have lunch with Wifey's friends at Vivocity Marche. So we happily went there and when we reached, we realised that we were 24 hours too early, thanks to some mis-communication (not on my part ... :-P ) In any case, we attempted and succeeded in having lunch with the boy at Shin Kushiya. Most part of it was taking turns looking after Cayden as he woke up before our set lunches arrived. Not very glamorous but we managed to finish our Mixed Kushiyaki Set and Cha Soba Set before he made any fuss. In fact, we were so busy with him that we forgot to take photos ... shucks!

After that it was shopping at Giant before heading down to in-laws place for part 2 for the day.

Sat (PM):

It was Wifey's aunt's birthday. So she treated us to dinner at Joe's Kitchen Thai Restaurant. Its a small restaurant at Alexandra Village with cheap but reasonably good Thai food. HERE are some pictures of what we ordered.

Sun (AM)

Went back to Vivocity AGAIN and this time we finally had our lunch at Marche. Spent about 2 hours catching up and taking some photos before we left

Sun (PM)

This is finally when we got time to relax for the weekend, although about an hour was spent trying to get the boy to sleep, and another hour trying to get him to stop crying and go back to sleep after he woke up (probably from a bad dream or loud noise).

I think the picture below aptly sums up our weekend ... :-D

Singapore Motor Show 2008

2008-10-02T21:57:00.005+08:00

For 8 bucks, during F1 season, this show was quite a disappointment. In fact, the show occupied only one floor and had only 3 major brands showing their cars; Subaru, Nissan and Honda. None of the other brands were there. I guess the slowing economy and realisation that car shows in Singapore had almost no ROI kept them away.

Even the car and bike "babes" were in short supply. Anyway, here are some photos of our 1 hour walkabout ...

Singapore Motorshow 2008 pics ...

Lunch @ Shokudo

2008-10-02T21:52:00.005+08:00

When we wanted a place to go for lunch during the Hari Raya holiday, we decided to go to Shokudo as all (except me and wifey) have not been there before.

This is the third time I'm here and this time its with family. It is also Cayden's longest outing yet. Although we (those with kids) were late for 45 minutes, we had a blast ... heh heh!

Click on the Photo above to see Flickr Set

Hypertension

2008-09-26T13:36:00.015+08:00

Recently I have been feeling a "general sense of tiredness". Sometimes headaches and maybe occasionally the "stoned/dizzy" feeling. Also, my right eye recently also started to be more sentitive to bright light and can get slightly blurry in bright environments.

So on Wednesday evening, I decided to go see a GP to check out what is wrong. After checking several things, the main conclusion is that my BP is high. The first reading gave him a shock, 155 mm/Hg for Systolic! The second reading went down to 145 mm/Hg.

In any case, I already had this suspicion about my BP because of the recent stresses at work and the lack of sleep/rest.

Anyway, the prescription was for REST so I got 2 days MC. In addition, the doc also gave some meds which I checked out are more for relief of "anxiety". Anyway, I don't think I will be taking them. Also, I will be ignoring my office email for these two days as well. :-P

Today is my 2nd day of MC and I decided to get myself a BP monitor so that I can monitor BP myself. There were several models but eventually I settled on the mid-range model which has most of the features I need. Cost about 150 bucks.

I have taken several readings already. Some are normal and some are above 135/85 (which is supposedly the guideline for being borderline hypertensive). As you can see from the pic, this is in a normal relaxed setting at home and my BP is still borderline hypertensive (137/86). Can't imaging what would be like in the office!

Gonna go swimming later to excercise the body and the mind ...

What the numbers mean:

http://new-fitness.com/Blood_Pressure/numbers.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure

Babies and Phones

2008-09-26T13:17:00.013+08:00

Tuesday I took child care leave and brought Cayden to NUH for his second round of vaccination. The pediatrician seemed to be pleased with "little botak's" physical development. His comments were that he was about 2 months ahead. (i.e. He can now turn over, interact through voice, grab stuff and even stand supported for a few seconds). Obviously mummy and daddy were very happy to hear this.

Anyway, the vaccinations this time round included 1 oral (Rotavirus) and 2 injections (Pneumococcal and the 5-in-1). There was screaming but it was short.

After that, we brought him to Takashimaya to accompany us while we went to convert our broadband, home phone and wifeys' mobile phone to MIO plan. The process was so complicated that it took almost 2 hours! What came out of it was that I got a Nokia N78 (with the S$100 discount) for S$38 only.

The N78 is quite an amazing phone packed full of features and it was on offer for just S$138 with a price plan. Its got the works ... 3 megapixel Carl Zeiss with AF and LED flash, 3G, Quad Band, WiFi, A-GPS, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, FM radio, Internet Radio etc. etc.

Tested out all these features and they worked like a charm. Only thing is the GPS took quite some time to lock on to the Satellites (even with the A-GPS).

Sample shot taken with the 3MP Carl Zeiss below:

Unfortunately, my office "officially" does not allow the use of camera phones, so this N78 will either be a weekend phone or it will be used "discreetly" since I have an "offical" non-camera E51.

Oh yes, we also managed to finish a nice dinner at the Japanese restaurant at Takashimaya B2 today without any problems with the boy too!

Botak Boy

2008-09-13T00:12:00.005+08:00

The boy's head was shaven on Monday ... looked like he didn't mind a bit!

In fact, his hair is back with a vengeance. It's Friday today and the stubbly regrowth is now quite obvious.

Suckky Weekend

2008-09-09T11:57:00.002+08:00

The (last) weekend was not a good one. After the last blog post, got sick with a bad headache and fever. This went on for 2 days until end of Saturday. Then after that, the home desktop PC's graphic card died. Arrgh! As if that was not enough, during Sunday's lunch, as I was chomping down some salad, one part of my molar (yes, my tooth) broke off!

Now, I'm about 90% recovered (still got a bit of headache whenever I'm at work but no fever), got a new entry-level nVidia 9500GT graphics card (cost me 139 bucks), but have yet to fix my tooth. Made an appointment for next Tuesday. Hope they are able to rebuild the broken part of the crown. Anyway, it's probably gonna cost a few hundred bucks and some pain too.

The only good piece of news so far is a project incentive "bonus" that I will be receiving soon. (Most of which I think will be used to pay for the graphics card and dental work ... bleah!)

Dubai Day #2-#4

2008-09-05T11:00:00.009+08:00

I'm back in SG. In my current state of partial consciousness (I dunno why since its only 4 hours difference between Dubai and Singapore) I shall attempt to summarise the last 3 days of activities:

Day #2
Other than work, the day ended pretty well when our partner hosted us to drinks (wanted to go to Buddha Bar but it was closed for renovation) at Bar 44 (located on the 44th floor of the Grosvenor House Hotel). Had a "Blackberry Mohito" which tasted a bit like a mix of Ribena and a normal Mohito.

After that, dinner was after a buggy ride round the beach at the Royal Meridien. The restaurant chosen by our host was a Lebanese restaurant (I think its Al Khalma). Food was authentic (to me at least) and excellent. Had kebabs, hummus, parsley salad etc. before ending the day close to midnight and taking a 1 minute taxi ride back ... :-)

This is Dubai Internet City, where we had our meetings.

Day #3
Not much happening on this day. After work, took a stroll around the apartments where we stayed (Jermeirah Beach Residences - also known as JBR). Bought some clothes for Baby Cayden. After that we ordered Papa Joe's Pizza to eat in.

Day #4
Today was very rush. After work, we went to Ibn Battutah for some very late lunch. It was kind of a disaster; 1. No Taxis ... 2. No Food cos its Ramadan month. In the end, we managed to find some take-away food at the food court (some subway type sandwiches) after 20 mins of walking. After that, we had to walk 20 mins again back to the taxi stand! The mall was huge but empty cos most people were fasting.

Since taxis were so hard to find at this time of day, we took the cab from the mall back to the apartments and asked him to wait for us for 10 minutes to "get our luggage" ... which to us meant packing + eating lunch + changing!

Anyway, other than the fact that I had to work, it is a nice first trip to Dubai.

This is the view from our apartment.

Dubai Day #1

2008-09-02T04:50:00.008+08:00

We reached Dubai at 3am in the morning. By the time we got to the apartment it was already 3:45am, and that was when the fun started...

1. The door key can fit the lock but cannot turn (I was afraid of turning too hard and the key breaks), meaning we are stuck outside the apartment with all our luggage. Made a few calls back to Singapore to the last person who used the apartment. Finally, 20 minutes later, I was able to turn the key forcefully. The key could not turn easily because there was another key stuck in the keyhole on the other side of the door.

2. After getting in, we got a shock when we found strangers sleeping in some of the rooms! Apparently, our Dubai project manager lent the key to some friends who where moving apartment and needed a temporary place to stay. Luckily, they stayed only one night and left on the afternoon of the same day we arrived. Because of them, I had to sleep in the "maid's room" for one night. :-(

3. I also discovered that the water heater for the apartment is not working. Will have to bathe in ice cold water for the next few days.

Anyway, one of my colleague who is here had a bad fall on Sunday and is now hobbling around. Hope she gets well soon. Let's see what other interesting things happen over the next few days.

Forgot to mention that we also visited Mall of the Emirates today.

Waiting ...

2008-08-31T21:14:00.004+08:00

The flight departure time is 2340, boarding time is 2240, I've already checked-in, found myself a quiet spot and it is only 2115. This reminded me of the time last year where I had to wait about 4-5 hours for Wifey at Arlanda Airport. That wait was worse cos there was absolutely NOTHING to do!

Anyway, the departure gate is E8, which is super far away in some little corner. I'll probably listen to some new tunes on my Zen or surf YouTube till my laptop battery runs flat.

Next update should be in Dubai.

Travelling Again ...

2008-08-31T08:09:00.003+08:00

The last time I set foot on a plane was almost a year ago, when Cayden was smaller than a peanut and Gold was around US$600/oz. (Argh!)

Anyway, I am now working on a tender for Dubai (among several other things, as usual). About two months ago, I was asked to go but I managed to excuse myself from the trip as Cayden was only 1+ month old. This time round there is a second trip, and being the officially appointed technical lead, I think it's better that I go.

Which means ...

I will miss baby Cayden for 1 week
I will feel the heat in Dubai (close to 40 degrees Centigrade) for 1 week
I will experience Ramadan in Dubai for 1 week (no food/drink in public during the day)
I will be working full-time with overseas partners for 1 week

The only plus points that I see is that this will be a new experience as I have not been to Dubai before. Hopefully as well, I can learn much from working with these overseas partners.

Stay tuned for updates and maybe some photos if I have time.

KooshLog: Family / Work Life Balance

2008-08-14T23:03:00.000+08:00

KooshLog: Family / Work Life Balance

Just an update to the last post, I have just received a "New Born Gift" from my company, 50 bucks. Wifey's "New Born Gift" from hers was 20 times more ... :-D

Family / Work Life Balance

2008-08-11T22:25:00.009+08:00

The last hope of a great family / work life balance faded away during the weekend as the last TOTO ticket was carefully scrutinised, and then dumped into the trash bin. Is it really that hard to achieve?

Wifey has only started going back to work for less than a week after maternity leave and we were "forced" to leave the boy at the in-law's place overnight because of work related reasons:

1. Meeting at 8:30am in the morning, too early to fetch the boy from home to in-law's.
(A whole bunch of people turned up ... and mostly wasted their time)

2. Meeting until 9:00pm at night, too late to bring the boy home.
(Probably so people can claim for their taxi fare home)

Recently, there has been talk about raising the declining birth rate. I just heard on the news that Singapore's current figure stands at 1.29. A quick search on the Internet revealed articles in 2004 at which the birth rate was 1.25. I'm not sure how accurate these figures are but a 0.04 increase over 4 years is hardly encouraging.

Personally, I think $$$ may not be the factor for most couples when it comes to having children. Time is more important. Working environments and working habits and expectations of bosses need to be changed.

Anyway, both of us work in government-related industries. Wifey has a better deal from her HR which offers an encouraging pro-family/baby package, but unfortunately, mine doesn't even offer a single day of paternity leave ...

Lancer EX GT Fuel Consumption

2008-08-11T22:20:00.007+08:00

Today I had a meeting very early in the morning (first thing at 8:30am) so I went to office straight from home. The journey from Yew Tee to Serangoon North was Expressway all the way.

Driving normally, the average FC meter for the GT reached a peak of 13.1 km/l, pretty impressive for a short highway drive. I wonder how high it can go if I ever get a chance at the North South Highway ...

Rolling Over

2008-08-11T22:13:00.005+08:00

As with many new parents, every first giggle, wobble, sneeze and coo is a milestone of achievement for their child, and so true is it for us.

Little Cayden has learnt how to hold his head up while lying prone on the bed for some time already, but now, he can roll himself over ... and back!

Changi Airport Terminal 3

2008-08-02T11:26:00.005+08:00

For the past few weeks, wifey has been staying with my in-laws during the daytime while I was at work. Because of the little prince, we have not had time to go out for a meal for a couple of months already. So as a sign of appreciation, wifey decided to bring them all out to T3 to take a look as they have not been there before. It is also a good excuse for me to take 1/2 day leave to escape from the "mess" in the office.

Anyway, weekdays are the best times to go relax. We went there in the afternoon to walk around. T3 is huge and there are not too many people around so seats were aplenty. Took quite a number of photos before ending up sipping Pure Caramel Ice-Blended while surfing the net with my new E51. So relaxing. I definitely need more of these outings ...

Click photo for the Flickr Set

Nokia E51

2008-08-02T10:29:00.008+08:00

Being in the technology business, I must say that I was "ashamed" not to know of the existence of the Nokia E51 non-camera phone. It is known as the E51-2. (The E51-1 is the camera version)

It was only recently that I saw the E51-2 for sale at a popular local shop (MobileSquare). The E51-2 was only available in Steel Silver at the shop. This gave the phone a very business/professional finish but also made it a fingerprint magnet.

The specifications were exactly what I wanted. 3.5G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Outlook Sync ... the works, and all in a slim and sleek body. The phone runs the latest S60 operating system and it is quite rare to find a phone with such features but without a camera. The lack of a QWERTY keyboard was not really an issue as I found that I have not lost my number pad thumbing skills.

Needless to say, I told wifey about and and the next day, we bought 2 of these phones. We particularly like the WiFi features as we could surf the net and download applications, themes, ringtones etc. for free both at home and outside. TomTom GPS navigation and MSN Live is also available for the E51. Apps such as iScoot and Gizmo also allows free VOIP calls and chats, neat!

Time Flies ...

2008-07-13T22:59:00.014+08:00

The past 2 weeks have gone by in a blur. It's 11pm now and I intend to catch up on some much needed sleep after this blog entry while the little guy is still having his nap. Anyway, he will be 2 months old tomorrow, how time flies.

Some milestones/events that has been achieved these last 2 weeks:

1. Started the daily routine of fetching Cayden and Wifey to in-law's place in the morning and then back after work. This will be the de-facto routing after Wifey starts work.

2. Cayden has learnt to "talk" to people who "talk" to him.

3. Cayden has also almost doubled his weight since birth. He is now just over 6kg. He can now take on the title of "Michelin Man".

4. Cayden has also taken a liking to sleeping in the sarong cradle, so his other nickname is "Sarong Boy"... so guess who is the "Sarong Man".

5. The new car has travelled 1000km and its time for its first service.

Click photo for the Flickr Set

Going Flying

2008-07-01T05:28:00.010+08:00

Took leave yesterday and went down to C&C's new car collection centre to pick up the car. First time buying a car from C&C so it was a new and interesting experience.

As Wifey was cooped up at home for so long so we took the opportunity + leave + new car + inspiration from Cactus' post and went for a short trip to the Singapore Flyer. It's been quite a while since we went out to a new place. Going "Flying" was a great experience, our very first outing as a family and it felt like we were overseas although we were only in downtown Singapore.

For those who have not been there, I highly recommend it. Go during a weekday if possible, parking is not full, plus there are less people. In fact, the ~60 bucks we paid for the 2 adult tickets was really worth it cos we got the WHOLE CAPSULE TO OURSELVES! Check out the photos HERE.

As Cayden is only 1.5 months, its not advisable to go for long trips (in fact, any trips) so we kept it short. Dinner was originally at Popeye's Chicken and Biscuit restaurant but the air con was quite cold so we decided to take-away instead. Yummy!

Red ...

2008-07-01T00:31:00.006+08:00

Bubbles is no more, the Lady in Red has arrived ...

I do apologize for the lack of quality in the above photo which does not do her justice. This is the only decent shot out of the few hurried snaps in the carpark in low light. As you can see, the plastic wrap around the seats haven't even been removed. Will take and post more later.

ScribeFire

2008-06-28T01:08:00.004+08:00

This is another cool plugin if you are using FireFox. Makes blogging much more convenient and faster. However, it used DIV for formatting which I don't like because it is inconsistent with the rest of my pages.

(Published via ScribeFire plugin for Firefox 3.0, edited to remove DIV tags)

PicLens

2008-06-28T00:57:00.002+08:00

If you are always viewing images from Flickr, Google Image Search, Facebook photos or even YouTube videos, this is one of the coolest plugins to get!

Check it out at http://www.piclens.com

KooshLog: Goodbye Bubbles

2008-06-24T23:32:00.005+08:00

KooshLog: Goodbye Bubbles

I think I've had it.

Today the car stopped (gearbox error) at a busy junction while I was about to go for a right turn. After fiddling for 3-4 minutes with the hazard light on, it managed to move off and later nearly stopped (gearbox error but manage to recover) when nearing the entrance to the CTE. Quickly dived into a carpark and it stopped again (gearbox error) just as I was reversing into the lot!! (I was half in the lot with the nose of the car sticking out) Couldn't push the car in also, cos the lot was a bit of an upslope. Took another 5 minutes before the car could move and reverse properly into the lot.

After all the "excitement", went to have a super late lunch (2:30pm) at a nearby coffee shop. Had cheap Lor Mee and Lime Juice accompanied by several pigeons (who were walking around picking food off the ground ... :-| ).

Decided to wait for the car to cool down so did some work in the car till 3:40pm. Took the route to the closest Expressway entrance. Once on the Expressway, its pretty safe cos its 5th gear all the way.

Anyway, the car has been stripped just now of all its good I.C.E. (In-Car Entertainment) and replaced with a cheapo S$60 used head unit. (I can work part-time as a car audio installer liow ...) It is now grounded and will only be used to drive down to trade-in for the new car.

Taxi ... !

Growth Tracking

2008-06-23T22:12:00.004+08:00

For those who want to really track their children's growth closely, WHO (not who, but the World Health Organisation) provides an application called WHO Anthro. This application is basically for healthcare/social workers who need to track the growth of multiple children. It can produce charts and also tell you if your child's development falls within the "norm" of WHO standards.

You can download the application and manual HERE. Get the one for the PC. If you like, there is even one version for PDAs.

I'm using it to track Cayden's development.

Goodbye Bubbles

2008-06-21T22:11:00.008+08:00

The C3's SensoDrive gearbox, once the selling point of the car is now its Achille's heel. It is highly unpredictable nowadays. Sometimes it goes well for days, other times, I will get stuck at junctions and carparks more than once a day.

Its very frustrating to not know when the problem will come, and every journey is am unknown. We had also sent the car in for servicing and the agent couldn't find anything wrong with the SensoDrive. Being the agents, solving the problem would probably mean replacing the entire gearbox, which will cost a bomb.

In the end, we decided to trade in the C3 to save on the unpredictable frustration (safety reason also) and get a more reliable car. After checking out various models, we decided on the Lancer EX GT. Will post some pics next week if I can collect it by then.

Weekend Domestic Help

2008-06-21T22:05:00.003+08:00

With barely 5 hours of sleep last weekend, boy were we glad to see the hired weekend domestic help last Sunday. We arranged to have about 4 hours of help every weekend to clean up the house and do the ironing. The rates were S$15 per hour.

The lady assigned to us was quite nice, and she stayed just a few blocks away. The first 4 hours were supposed to be doing vacumming, mopping and ironing the clothes. However, there were so much dust tucked away in all the corners of our house that it took her 5 hours to clean up on Sunday, excluding ironing. In fact, she came back on Tuesday to complete the rest.

So far, a total of 10 hours have gone into cleaning up our place and I must say it is really very clean now. Even the day curtains are white, not grey! Tomorrow will be cleaning time again. This time, we are going to limit her to 4 hours (told her we are going out) cos there is probably still lots to clean. Better to spread it out over the next few weeks.

Cayden's 1st Month

2008-06-09T23:59:00.004+08:00

Although officially Cayden's 1st month is on 14th June 2008, we decided to hold it a week earlier as the confinement nanny will be going back before that (we need all the help we can get!)

Anyway, we had two (yes 2!) first month affairs, one for the in-laws and one for my own. It was held across the weekend and we kept it simple mainly family events to keep logistics to a minimum.

Pictures from Saturday can be viewed HERE. (The 3rd party battery for the IXUS850 died after taking one shot at in-laws place, so had to rely on someone else camera ... so only 1 photo for Sunday)

My First Crustacean

2008-05-31T08:27:00.007+08:00

Recently just added a freshwater red lobster into the small tank in the study room after all the fish in there died. :-)

Anyway, he (I think its a he) promptly helped me do some gardening by cleaning up ALL the DEAD and LIVE plants in there. Basically, he eats everything, from worms, flakes to plants.

Oh and BTW, his name is Mr. Sashimi ...

Picture Collage

2008-05-31T08:06:00.001+08:00

I remember doing a picture collage/grid for Nikki some time back. Here is one for Cayden ...

A long week ahead ...

2008-05-28T13:29:00.002+08:00

I am attending a course this week. This course is conducted by Engineers for Engineers and everyone attending is an Engineer. I am dying of boredom and cringe at the sight of the 2-inch thick set of dry lifeless notes lying in front of me. It also doesn't help that my ex-boss is sitting right next to me in the same course. Furthermore, there is supposed to be a certification exam scheduled on Monday ... there goes my weekend.

The only good thing about this course though, is the tea-breaks and lunch. For such a boring course, they have managed to secure a very good caterer and there is a variety of nice tasting food.

Anyway, though tempted as I was, I am not typing this during the lecture but at lunchtime. I am hoping to absorb as much as possible during the lectures so that I can breeze (I hope) through the material during the weekend revision session.

At the back of my mind, there is also other stuff, like an upcoming tender submission, a tender clarification (which is more or less done) and some major changes in the office ... sianz.

Really, looking forward to going home, forget about work, relax and look after the little prince. Cel mentioned about being a SAHM. Being a SAHD or SAHF suddenly sounds very attractive. :-)

Fatherhood - Week 1

2008-05-19T19:58:00.008+08:00

I can't imagine that almost one week has passed since the day when wifey started to go into labour. As "cool" as some of my friends and colleagues think I am, the past week was full of mixed emotions. Worry, tense, apprehension, happy, joy, tiredness ... and all these, because of him. :-)

He seems pretty happy chillin' out in his new cot. (Well, technically its not new but he doesn't know that! kekeke!) Anyway, you can see more of the little guy HERE.

Little Cayden

2008-05-15T15:55:00.008+08:00

After more than 18 hours of labour pains, the little guy is finally out, from a natural delivery! Both first time mommy and daddy are happy to see the little guy. Daddy is also happy that both mommy and little guy are fine.

Born on 14 May 2008 at 12:33 pm, baby Cayden is 54 cm tall and weighs in at 3.365 kg. Most importantly, he is normal and healthy.

I'm typing this in the Ward now as mommy is taking a nap and little Cayden is back at the nursery. Quite a number of visitors have come today, including relatives and office colleagues. More to come in the next 2 days I think.

Thanks to all those who have visited and wished us well (and for the gifts too)!

BTW, as you may have noticed, all the countdown banners on this blog have been removed, soon they will be "count up" banners ...

Car Showrooms

2008-05-06T07:35:00.011+08:00

Had 2 little scares over the past month in the little C3. Both times the SensoDrive gearbox showed an "error" (i.e. SNOW and AUTO icon flashing) and left me in neutral gear, once in the carpark and the other time on the road!

Anyhow, after those 2 experiences, wifey and I decided to visit some showrooms to check out the models which we were interested in last Saturday.

1st stop: Mazda showroom at Chun Tin (run by Village Credit)

This little showroom is tucked away behind the eating places opposite Beauty World on Chun Tin Road. The showroom was very small and empty. Because of this, service was very good. The sales guy took the time to explain everything (all the features and specs etc.) about the new Mazda 5 (2 months in SG) which we were looking at. In fact, he was so helpful that we decided to take the 5 out for a test drive.

As we were looking for potentially a mini-MPV, the 5 was very nice. A 6+1 seater with electric sliding doors, it was spacious and practical. The base specifications were impressive, auto wiper, auto headlight, sunroof, electric doors, factory integrated stereo, 16-inch rims etc. I was told about bad fuel consumption, but it is supposedly improved with the new VVT engine and 5 speed (instead of the previous 4 speed) gearbox. Also, it looks particularly good in white.

2nd stop: Honda showroom at Leng Kee (Kah Motor)

The next showroom we went was to Honda @ Leng Kee to take a look at the Stream and Civic. The Kah Motor showroom was huge and the feel was very "corporate". Not as "personal" as the one run by Village Credit. We were served by this guy who brought us to the cars we were interested in. Then, he asked the "filtering" question which was "when do you think you will be buying the car". When we told him that it will be a couple of months down the road, he told us to take a look at the cars first and call him if there are any questions. After that, he left us on our own, probably to look for "immediate buyers".

Anyway, we looked at the Stream and the Civic. The Stream was more sporty and lower than the 5. However, this meant slightly less space at the back with lower headroom. Also, Kah Motor doesn't bring in the RSZ which looks better than the standard Stream. For the Civic, it is a spacious car with a huge boot. Wifey was interested in the Hybrid Civic cos it is much cheaper to run. Unfortunately, it is more expensive to buy. Working out the sums, the Hybrid may not be that much cheaper overall.

3rd stop: Toyota showroom at Leng Kee (Borneo Motors)

The final stop of the day was to Borneo. We expected a crowd but as it was near dinnertime, the place was quite empty. We walked in wanting to take a look at the Picnic and the Wish. The Picnic is quite a dated model, not to mention that it looks quite "uncle". The Wish was not on display but the showroom car was supposed to be currently being cleared by LTA to be brought in. Again, the Wish shown in the pictures at the showroom looked the same as the ones running around on the road from the Parallel Importers (PI).

The most interesting experience was with the sales lady which served us. I was sitting in the third row of seats in the Picnic when this lady (quite pleasant looking) called me through the open door ... "Hi Boss, your price list and brochure!"

Eh, its a bit strange to be called "Boss". Borneo is not exactly a coffeeshop and I am not here to buy Prata you know. Anyhow, she kept on calling me "Boss" while trying very hard to explain to me that PIs are no good. "They sell you used car as new car, sometimes they also take the car which is cut in half in Japan, then stick them together and sell it to you like new one also" ... yeah, er, ok. I think she overdid the downselling of the PI bit.

In the end, as we were about done, she (not very tactfully) said "If you are not 80% interested in buying, then dun waste your time and my time ...". How true. Dun think I will be visiting Borneo in the near future.

Its been a while (4 years) since my last rounds at the car showrooms. Good to feel, touch, play with the showroom cars (and smell too). In terms of spec/features and design, the Mazda 5 was tops.

When the Village Credit guy called me on Sunday to see how was our evaluation of the other cars, we told him the 5 was our pick, but had to disappoint him and told we are not making a decision immediately. End of the day, the current plan is to stick with the C3 for a little longer as the major service was just done and the tyres and radiator fan is also new. The next servicing to fix the accessories belt is end of the month. Hopefully it will "behave" itself after that.

Hawaiian Rocket

2008-04-27T15:17:00.005+08:00

Take a standard Cold Storage "First Choice" pineapple and ham pizza as a base. "Zeng" (modify) it with loads and loads of extra Mozarella Cheese and Wild Rocket, and you get your very own "Hawaiian Rocket" Pizza!

Botanical Gardens

2008-04-27T01:51:00.007+08:00

While wifey was having her facial, I dropped by the Singapore Botanical Gardens (SBG) for an hour in the afternoon to do some shooting. It's been a while since I have gone out taking photos by myself. It was sunny and warm, good weather for photos and a tan ...

See the flickr photoset HERE.

Nikki's 2nd Birthday

2008-04-26T09:40:00.008+08:00

Yesterday was Nikki's 2nd birthday party.

Took the opportunity to bring along the K10D and the 32MZ-3. This was the first time where I had so many kids to shoot. With all the screaming and running around, the K10D's autofocus was really out of breath and showed some of its weaknesses. The non P-TTL Metz running on "automatic" mode took some getting used to, and this was the first time that I am taking so many shots in this mode. Coupled with the high ceiling (difficult to bounce) and hyperactive subjects, this was a real challenge!

Looks like I really need that f1.4 lens and/or a P-TTL flash for those little rascals ...

Happy Birthday Nikki!

See the entire flickr photoset HERE.

Visit to Singapore National Eye Centre

2008-04-24T22:42:00.008+08:00

Three months ago I went to the Polyclinic when a stubborn stye/chalazion on my eyelid refused to go away after many months. The reason for going there is because I needed a referral to the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) in case the stye/chalazion doesn't go away after medication.

Note: If you ever need to go to SNEC for any eye exam, get the referral through a Polyclinic as you will be charged subsidised rates.

The referral landed me an appointment only three months later (which was yesterday)!

The SNEC is located in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Quite a sleek and modern place, and the staff there were quite friendly and efficient.

Anyway, I saw the doc after a short wait. The result was that my stye/chalazion was a small matter and I should not worry about it as it would go away on its own. However, the doc got more news for me. He told me that my IOP (intra-ocular pressure) was high and that my condition is known as OHT (ocular hypertension), which has a risk of leading to Glaucoma!

The doc on the clinic on the first level measured 30/21 (mm Hg) for both my eyes. Normal range is 10-21. Because of the high pressure, I was made to do several tests (requiring many types of eyedrops), including a test on my peripheral vision (which I passed with flying colours). Later, he referred me to a "super-specialist" on Glaucoma on the 3rd floor.

This "super-specialist" made another measurement of my IOP and he found it to be 26/21. Ok, slightly lower but still on the borderline of high. He explained that not everyone with OHT will get Glaucoma. There are many factors including high blood pressure and genetics etc. Anyway, I went through more tests including digital photography of my eye and some more scanning tests. No medication is required for now as there is no evidence that I am at high risk of having Glaucoma. Next appointment is in 2 weeks time where the doc will checkout the results of the tests and advise what is the next course of action.

Total time spent at SNEC is about 4+ hours. Total bill = SGD87, cos its subsidised.

Sunset @ Yew Tee

2008-04-23T22:29:00.003+08:00

"Salted Egg" taken from my window at Yew Tee area. Cropped to remove some HDB buildings. Looks like the "fungussy" 70-210mm is going to be pretty useful, time to look for cheap lens cleaning services...

Grandma and Grandpa's Gift

2008-04-23T22:21:00.002+08:00

Grandma and Grandpa presented this to us during the weekend. It's meant for Cayden's little ankle when he is out ...