Seen my crocs?

I'm not afraid of bucking the trend. I got the LOMO LC-A 35mm camera for RM600. The LOMO LC-A is hardly a technological breakthrough. It doesn't autofocus, it doesn't have automatic film advance, it uses rudimentary exposure metering and it definitely is not worth RM600. I still bought it - perhaps for the hype but I cannot deny the excitement I felt when I used it.

When everyone was excited about digital cameras, I was lusting after a 35mm SLR camera from 1979 - the Nikon EM. It was worth every RM200 I spent for a second hand set with a 50mm prime lens. The exposure metering was dodgy, but when it worked, it produced amazingly well exposed photographs. Other than the dodgy exposure meter, I loved using the Nikon EM. I enjoyed manually focusing the lens, adjusting the aperture and manually advancing the film. I was different from the rest, and I was enjoying photography.

Then my 5 year old Windows PC decided to call it quits. Instead of getting another Windows box, I wanted an Apple computer, and the best bang for my buck was the Apple iBook G4. It ran on a 1.33 GHz processor that was plenty fast for my needs, and I wanted mobility, so I got the 12-inch model. The iBook was the cheapest 12-inch notebook I could get at that time. I looked and no other Windows notebook could offer the same specifications as the iBook at the same price. I was ostracised by my Windows-using friends, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed using the Mac OS and found iPhoto to be extremely useful for organising my photographs. I even produced several DVD slideshows from the weddings I attended as a photographer. And to further buck the trend, I added decals to my iBook.

Now, my latest craze - crocs. I would have gotten a pair if it weren't for the exhorbitant price tag. RM140 for a pair of crocs that are entirely made a compound called Proprietary Closed Cell Resin (PCCR) that's very light, moulds to your feel, grippy on most surfaces, odourless and anti-bacterial. A super material? I call it hype, and I'm buying every raving testimonial on the website.

Model for a day... or rather, 15 minutes

One day my sister called me in the office. "Do you want to be a model?" she asked. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts and I blurted, "What?" Turns out, the company I work for wants to produce a print advertisement and needed a few people to model for the advertisement. I thought it would be an interesting experience, and so I volunteered.

Today was the photoshoot. There were three men - a photographer, his assistant and a the boss. They were setting up strobe lamps, soft boxes, reflectors, filtered strobes, an Apple Powerbook G4 to view the RAW images from a digital back, and they used Nikon lenses. I was intrigued and enjoyed watching the professionals prepare their gear.

The first photoshoot was a Meeting scene. They needed 2 people and I was chosen along with another girl from HR. The boss made us feel relaxed by asking for our names, and gave general suggestions on how to pose. We weren't directed. Instead, they let us pose naturally... well, as naturally as I could with 3 people in the room staring at us and 6 other people outside the room watching us. I think we did ok. We cracked jokes and mumbled some nonsense to get into the feel that we are in a meeting.

After each pose, we got to have a look at the photographs. I was impressed. The lighting arrangement produced a very distinct vignette effect, and images were tact sharp and the colours very saturated. Our faces were well exposed with no blown highlights. Wow. There were a few shots with either one of us looking a little odd. I hope they got a good shot with both of us not looking too odd.

I don't know when I'll get to see the finished photograph. Will they post process the photos?

I got to be a "super" model for about 15 minutes. It was fun!

Food for the soul

More often than not, sp and I would be busy in our kitchen preparing dinner. I enjoy cooking together and one of the reason is our kitchen. Now, let me explain. The best thing about a small kitchen is that when two people are cooking together, we're going to be brushing against each other and wrapping our arms around each other's waist to grab something off the counter. This little dance that we do in our kitchen makes cooking fun... for me, at least.

It's always a treat for me when sp decides to prepare soup. She's really good at it. She patiently cleans the chicken bones, picks the right amount of Chinese herbs, cleans and chops the vegetables and combine her carefully prepared ingredients in boiling water. A few minutes before the soup is ready, I can already smell the savoury aroma wafting into the livingroom.

Soup really is food for the soul. As a child, my mom prepared soup for me and I remembered those times as being safe and contented. When sp makes soup for me, I'm reminded of those feelings and makes me cherish her even more. May I have seconds?

Make sure you wash behind your ears

Keeping Serenity clean is a constant challenge. A white notebook is hardly practical, aesthetically. With a white notebook, it's too easy to notice grime and lint accumulate from daily use.

So my cleaning regime goes something like this:

Every week or so, I'd give Serenity a thorough wipe-down using wet wipes that I bought from Tesco. I made sure the wet wipes were alcohol free and as chemically inert as possible. My rationale was that if the wet wipes were good enough for babies, they were good enough for Serenity. Just shy of a year old, Serenity is aging well.

There have been reports that the iBook screen could get smudged or scratched from the keyboard when it's closed. So I had to look for a piece of cloth to put between the keyboard and the screen. At first I asked my mom to sew a piece of cloth and that worked very well.

About a week ago, I decided it was time to replace that piece of cloth and I had the perfect replacement in mind. I noticed that Giant Hypermarket sold a microfiber cloth from Sabco. It's advertised for cleaning glass, and that seemed perfect for my needs. The microfiber cloth costs about RM7 and I had my mom cut it to size. It keeps the keyboard and screen lint free and also protects the screen while the iBook lid is closed.


I doubt I'd go through all this trouble if I didn't have an iBook. However the gains outweigh the hassle. There is a comfortable feeling when using Serenity. Maybe it's the Mac user interface combined with a minimalist and elegantly designed hardware that makes the Mac experience so unique.

Grab Bag II

I mentioned about winning a Mac Grab Bag a few weeks ago. It's been almost a month and I haven't received the Mac Grab Bag. Nevermind... the website does say it would take 4-6 weeks for my prize to arrive...

So while thoughts of opening the Grab Bag and discovering what I had actually won percolated in my mind, I was dilligently joining the same competition every week. It's easy, and takes about 10 minutes, maybe less, to identify the sound clips and send the answers.

A week passed... nope, I didn't win. Another week and another week, and I didn't win. No surprises here. But on the fourth week...

I won another Mac Grab Bag!

It boggles my mind - either I'm on a lucky streak, or the general population don't know how to use Google, or the podcast has very few listeners.

Bangkok or Bust!

Both of us have been meaning to visit Bangkok since last year. Finally we got our wish and had a weekend romp in Bangkok on 20 May 2006. Airasia offered us the best airfare, and I used my timeshare membership to get us a room at Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel (building?) in Bangkok.

Our flight departed Penang only 15 minutes behind schedule... phew. Airasia is notorious for flight delays. 1 hour 45 minutes later, we arrived at Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport. But we gained an hour because Bangkok's time is 1 hour behind Malaysian time.

I've heard stories about the traffic congestions in Bangkok. Now I got to see them in person. In retrospect, I noticed Thai drivers are very courteous, patient and very skilled at weaving between lanes. Taxis are everywhere, and they are easily spotted by their garish colour schemes - green and yellow, shocking pink, bright orange. I spotted a few 4x4 trucks, but the majority of the cars were Honda and Toyota.

How can we visit Bangkok without trying the "tuk-tuks"? That's what we rode on our first day in Bangkok. The ride was exciting - very bumpy, noisy and dusty.


On the first day, we visited Chinatown. I don't know where the "tuk-tuk" dropped us, but I'm guessing it's somewhere along the Yaowarat Road. There were throngs of people in the market. We walked (or waded) through the sea of people busy buying a variety of items - fruits, vegetables, meats, dried foodstuff, some I can't even identify.

We got back to the hotel before nightfall. I was really happy with the hotel room. I specifically asked for a non-smoking room, and that got us a room at the 39th floor. The room was very spacious, with a large bathroom and a cavernous walk-in wardrobe. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

A good night's rest and we were raring to go the next day. Our next destination - the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. We were fortunate to witness the changing of the guards at the Grand Palace.


These formidable looking guards stood at attention at three points at the Grand Palace. They stood so still that I thought they were decorative statues from a distance.


That's us at the Grand Palace. Right next to the Grand Palace compound is Wat Phra Kaew, an enclosed area with many many temples, stupas, halls, statues.


The lack of tourists in the picture may be because it started to rain. I liked the rain because it made everything look clean and shiny, and kept most of the tourists away except for hardcore tourists who didn't mind getting wet (I got sick when I arrived in Penang 2 days later...).


That's a view from our room at the 39th floor. But we made plans for dinner at Baiyoke Sky Hotel located at the 76th floor. The dinner buffet was nice, but nothing to shout about. Even so, I enjoyed the dinner. I had several rounds of Banana Mataba that looked like "roti canai pisang".

The highlight of the night was the visit to the observation deck at the 84th floor. The sky was clear from the rain the morning so the view was impressive. The observation deck rotates so we just had to pick a spot and enjoy the ride/view.

We didn't get to visit many places in Bangkok this time around, but we told ourselves that we'd be back next year.

Literary Mug

MPH is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. Gosh... I didn't realise MPH has been around for that long...

So for every RM100 you spend, you can get a nice mug with some minimalist decorations and a snippet of text from selected books. There are a total of 9 mugs and I think only the most persistent readers (and with loads of money to spare) would be able to get all 9 mugs.

That said, sp and I got 3 of them. Thanks to the help of my sister who is an avid reader, but not a mug connoisseur, for the third mug. We got the "cracked" design, the "measuring cup" design and the "paint splat" design.

I chose the "cracked" design for my daily mug. I'm quite particular about the mug I use. The volume has to be right to ensure the best tasting Milo. Did I mention I'm a Milo addict? Then there's the shape. A good mug has to feel comfortable in the hand when I drink my nightly portion of Milo. Finally the mug should be well balanced on the table so that I don't easily tip it over with my flailing arms when I browse the internet while waiting for my steaming mug of Milo to cool down enough to drink.

sp does not understand my Milo addiction, but she lets me have my quirks. She makes a good cup of Milo, and she does it every night for me. If that ain't love, I don't know what is.

Grab Bag

I'm subscribed to this podcast called The Tech Night Owl Live. Every week, listeners would be given a chance to win a Macbook Grab Bag. What we have to do is to listen to a movie clip and identify the actor, the role he played and the movie.

I hardly ever join any contests because I'm too lazy to think up slogans or to collect clues weeks at a time.

But for the contest at The Tech Night Owl, it was easy. I listened to the movie clip, and Google'd the phrase. So far, my success rate is 100%. If only the contest was that easy. Out of all the correct entries, one winner will be randomly selected. Nevermind, I thought. Since the contest was easy, why not try?

To my surprise (and sp's, when I yelped aloud), I actually won the May 4th contest! I had to listen to the podcast twice to make sure the presenter was really calling my name.

The website says it would take 4-6 weeks for my Macbook Grab Bag to arrive. I don't know what's in the grab bag... and I haven't had any reply from the presenter to acknowledge my win.

4-6 weeks is a long time... 4-6 weeks... and what's in a Macbook Grab Bag?

Fame

I certainly didn't expect it. I submitted 2 photos to DCM (Digital Camera Magazine) Malaysia - one for the humour section and another for readers submitted section called Hotshots. And guess what? My photo was printed in the May issue of DCM!

I was out with the guys during lunch hour and we decided to drop by Giant to check if the latest issue of DCM had arrived. I quickly bought a copy and thumbed to the last page of the magazine where the humour section would be. Nope. It wasn't my photo. Feeling a little dejected, I thumbed to the Hotshots section and to my disbelief, I saw my photo! I didn't title my photo, but the editors at DCM titled it, "Boat at Jett". I'm assuming the correct title would be, "Boat at Jetty". But I wasn't going to complain.

Right now I'm pretty psyched. I've submitted another photograph to the Hotshots section. Hopefully it will be chosen as the picture of the month and win a camera bag. Ok, ok. I shouldn't be so greedy. Having my photograph printed in a magazine is reward enough!

Strawberry Pear

Also known as Hylocereus undatus, and commonly known as the Dragon Fruit.

My dad got a cutting of a Dragon Fruit sapling about 18 months ago from a farmer in a nearby village. He didn't expect the plant to flourish, but recently the plant had a growth sprout and began bearing fruit. It's still too early to see how well the fruit will mature, but here's a sneak peek of the fruit that my dad planted. The flesh is red! And I was surprised that it was sweet, almost sugary sweet.

The Dragon Fruit is gaining popularity. I guess we'll know when it reaches mainstream popularity when we start seeing shampoo with Dragon Fruit essence.

Lights! Cameras! Action!

My first DVD is the movie Armageddon. I didn't have a DVD player, and I used my PC to watch the disc. The software was buggy and the movie would only play after several restarts. It took me 3 years before I finally gave in and got myself a DVD player from a local DVD outlet, HK Video. This DVD player lasted me shy of a year before it broke down. I had it repaired under warranty, and barely 6 months later, it broke down again.

I admit I was looking forward to this day. I can finally look for a new DVD player that can playback DivX videos. A quick research on the Internet revealed that the Pioneer DV-383 had good compatibility with a variety of video codecs. The trouble was, it was difficult to find, and the retail price was above RM300.

Unable to find the player, and faced with the prospects of paying a premium for a DVD player, I put aside thoughts of buying the DVD player. Weeks passed and one day, sp came home with a box and said, "I got something for you."

I couldn't believe it! She actually bought the DVD player that I wanted, and I didn't even mention the model to her. Turns out, there was a warehouse sale that day, and she got the DVD player for RM279 (it's actually cheaper, but there was a RM5 charge for using a credit card).

I tried some of the DVDs I have, and they played flawlessly. Then I tried a few discs with DivX movies and series, and they worked! The audio is much louder and better quality compared to playback using my iBook. Video playback on the DVD player looked very good albeit a little darker.

Couch... check! Movies... check! sp... check! Let the show begin!

Serenity's Decals

Serenity replaced my 5 year old desktop PC about 5 months ago. In that short time, I've taken an interest in customising Serenity. The first decal was the Serenity logo. It originally had the Chinese characters inside the circle, but they were removed after causing much distress to sp. Then today, I added my second decal, the Caf-Pow! design. This design is a homage to Abby from NCIS. It's a type of drink that she usually has in front of her when she works.

These decals wouldn't be possible without the creative efforts of my colleague, cmos.

Yellow Toadstool

We have a small garden right outside our home. They were planted by my sister and I try to remember to water them every morning before I leave for work.

Then one day sp noticed something strange, something yellow peeking from the leaves. I was pretty surprised because these plants don't flower. Taking a closer look, we discovered the strange yellow intruder was actually a mushroom!

I almost yelled at sp not to touch the mushroom because I didn't know if it was poisonous. Maybe it was my primal instinct (yeah, right...) reacting to the colour of the mushroom. Red = danger. Yellow = possible danger?

Anyways, the mushroom "bloomed" that afternoon when we came back from work, hung around the next day before wilting away on the third day.

Manila Place

When I receive an invitation for breakfast, I'd usually end up at Coffee Bean. Among the lifestyle coffee outlets, Coffee Bean has the best breakfast set that's filling and reasonably priced. But even the best breakfast experience gets boring after a few months.

So one day when I visited my usual breakfast haunt and was told they weren't serving breakfast any more (even though I was only 5 minutes late), I looked around for an alternative place and found Manila Place at Gurney Plaza.

The interior had a modern contemporary look, with beige chairs and dark wood tables. It looked very inviting, and the ambience was very relaxing with soft music playing in the background. This is a place where you can unwind and enjoy your dining experience.



After I "discovered" Manila Place, I was eager to spread the news to my breakfast buddies. I finally dragged shutterjam for breakfast one Saturday and this was what he ordered - the Ultimate Breakfast Set. The strange looking dimsum look-alike is actually egg mayo wrapped with smoked salmon. Wow!

The set also comes with a bowl of cornflakes, orange juice and as many coffee or tea you can drink. Pretty good deal for RM16.95.

Sometimes I end up having breakfast alone. What that happens, I'd bring Serenity (my iBook) along and enjoy the free WiFi. Don't expect to download any podcasts while you're there, but the bandwidth is enough for surfing the Internet. If you want to leave your notebook at home, Manila Place also offers a selection of magazines (some pretty dated) and the day's newspaper to read.

Introducing...

I can't seen to find any photos that had both of us in it... This photo of sp using the iBook is a good compromise. Typical of me to use an inanimate object to represent myself. If you happen to see a guy with an iBook emblazoned with the Serenity logo, that guy would be me - boysbytes.

The sleepyheads have trouble waking up in the mornings... weekday mornings, mind you. Oh, we don't have trouble waking up on weekends since we wake up when we wake up. That could be anytime from 8am to 11am. On weekdays, I'm usually the first to wake up, and also the first to get sleepy in the office.

But once we're both awake, watch out world!