Short Update!

Well folks, I have just came back from watching Superman Returns and I must say, I really liked it. I have read online reviews at reputable sites on how it was not so good, that Kate Bosworth is not good in this etc.etc... However I believe that Bryan Singer crafted an excellent yarn. The story really flowed in my opinion. Of course the question of Superman returning from where was not really answered, along with the question of what was out there and what did he see, but the movie quietly brings us along.. everything that happens on screen is relevant.. there are no wasted frames, from the scene back home in Kansas to the aeroplane scene (no spoilers as I am sure most people have watched the trailer)

I for one can't wait to see the next installment and see where it goes from here. Overall, Bryan Singer has created a worthy sequel to the first two superman movies which would soon erase the crap that was the third and fourth movie.

Next is Pirates! Bring on Captain Jack Sparrow!

Plant Life

I noticed that I write this blog like writing a letter. Others have a story-teller way of spinning their yarn.

I am not really that good at telling stories, maybe it’s because engineers are more used to handling facts and figures, so what little imagination we have has been eroded from lack of use.

Unlike in TV shows where they show the glamorous lives of doctors, models and lawyers, the engineer tend to be relegated to the background, serving in the capacity of supporting actor rather than the lead. With the advent of 911, the work of firemen started to become major movies. Of course engineers may or may not have the same box-office pull now or in the future but real life stories of bravery, hard work and dedication are abound in our daily lives. So I have decided to share some of the real life (and over dramatized for TV) stories of engineers.

11.55 pm January

The pressure in the line spiked suddenly. In the late night air a sudden rumbling started from deep within the bowels of the steel labyrinth. A solitary alarm beeped on the panel in the control room. From the operating chair the pressure spike read only as an anomaly that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

Elsewhere the field operator who felt the line vibrate stopped his routine checking, figuring instead it would be more interesting to see where the vibration came from. There was no scheduled pump change over that night which usually led to such occurrences.

Walking down the gantry slowly he turned into the steel superstructure that led deeper into the plant. The air was humid from the steam that gushed out of the steam trap. Above, the lights were flickering signaling it was soon time to change. The sound of his safety shoes on the steel walkway beat in rhythm with the sound of the diaphragm pump, pumping below.

Reaching the area housing the complex exchangers that work tirelessly to cool the plant during operations the operator froze. A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and neck.

Slowly he reached for his radio and spoke, “Panel-man, come in. We have a problem. A very big one”

End of Part One - jeng jeng jeng

About the Weekend

Well folks, it's the weekend and I am still stuck at work. Still waiting around for stuff to finish. I am currently updating the schedule to see where we can trim down on excess. Truth is we may need the extra time as the work quality for the mechanical work this time around is very poor.

I have also been experimenting with Skype (TM) on new lappy toppy. It works great! There was absolutely no echo heard even when I was using the speakers, plus the web cam is real time despite being a slow internet connection.

My Cooling Tower

Tried several movies and played around with the photo software. What caught me by surprise was how rich all pictures look on the screen. Really really beautiful! I also rewatched Advent Children to test the DVD capabilities... fuuh.. the start of the fight sequence with Sephiroth was mind blowing!

I also tried out the two carry case... I really like the back pack.. it has a solid feel to it.

On the home front my ADSL modem is kaput. But that really is a blessing in disguise as I have been spending more and more time reading. I have finished three books in the last one week, books that I have been getting around to finish in ages. I have also started to reread the photoshop books I have bought, trying out the various tricks.. cool...

But what I really want to do in my free time is brush up on my visual basic and C++ language. It has been years since I last used them. I know the book is lying around in the house somewhere.

So all this waiting for maintenance to finish their work, and no modem at home combined has really made this week one of my most productive in terms of learning.

For this I would like to thank God for his eternal blessings and my wife for graciously allowing me to buy the VAIO. Yes dear you can borrow it anytime you need it ;)

My plan for the coming week

a) Clean the living room
b) Clean the car
c) Pay my bills - car loan, electricity, phone, credit card etc.
d) Finish off two more books while start reading a third
e) Startup the plant
f) Write the VAIO review

Currently listening to

a) Anything on the radio and on the hard disk

Currently reading

a) 13 Fatal Errors
b) How to Get Rich Your Own Way
c) Bonehunters
d) Startup Procedures

VAIO

The ultrathin VAIO

Dear All,

This is my first posting since a long time and my first using my new VAIO. I must say the laptop is more than what I expected. Be sure to hang tight while I try out all the possible things I can do with it and have a review soon.

I know out there there are plenty of technical reviews and benchmarks already so I will do nothing of the sort.

More like I will try to see how it fits into normal everyday life.

At the moment weighing under 2 Kgs it is really really portable. The only drawback is the AC adaptor that weighs like a brick. At least while walking to the plant I now have something to throw at the wild dogs roaming around.

Tonight I will be driving back to Kerteh. Accompanying me will be my good buddy from CUF, a neighbouring plant. The plan is to take off from KL around 7.30 pm.

I must say it has been one very very interesting trip. I met a senior of mine from my A Level days, reminiscing with him and all. I was able to talk to Ustaz's colleagues and get to know them better. I was also able to install MS Office, Lotus as well as get to test run the new Vista! Guess what, the Vista feels like running LINUX under the bonnet. Oh yeah, Ustaz gave me a program that enables me to run Vista, LINUX and windows at the same time! How cool is that!

The next project is to turn my current PC into a media centre. And before KKL says anything.. no, it will not cost a thing.. Just reformatting the hard disk putting in Windows Media Center software etc. It would finally turn the PC into an entertainment system that it has been destined to be!

Regards

SZSeriesOverview


The Keyboard

The LCD Screen

My Wife

Hiya all,

I guess I have been very inactive in my postings. To be honest I have been working now for the last 20 plus days so by the time I get back home I fall asleep.....

But that's not what I want to talk about today..

You see I have not always been the way I am today.. My friends from back in the days would remember me as someone very very serious. I shun the public as I felt really really uncomfortable in crowds, preferring instead the quiet intimacy of close friends and family. In fact to this day I still retain some of these 'anti-social' like behaviour(s).

Nowadays I am more relaxed and confident in my dealings with people from all walks of life, enjoying the interactions a little more and definitely able to see the funnier side of life.

So what made me change?

Well as the title says, it's all about a girl, the person who has my heart in her hands, who makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

My Wife.

To be honest, nothing I write can ever compare to how much she means to me and how much I miss her. My long hours have only served to remind me how much her presence in my life is missing (for now).

Dear if you are reading this..know that I dream of of you...

Regards

A Walk in Richmond Park

This is KKL writing in for O-K. :)

DinahJee AapaJee came over one weekend to take us lucky girls in style (in her brand new shiny black Toyota Yaris) to Richmond Park! DinahJee had received inside info that the bluebells were fantastic at the moment, so we decided to close our books for a bit and enjoy the day out. This sounds a bit similar to the Japanese custom of viewing the cherry blossoms when they come out, I guess. Last year I went to Epping Forest with DinahJee to see the bluebells, as well as Kew Gardens, and so I was determined to see them again this year.


Richmond Park is huge, and I heard one can even see deer here. But we headed straight for Isabella Plantation, which sounded to me like a woodland with some planted shrubs. Or even ladang. Hehe.


















Here are some bluebells, on the left a closeup, and on the right what they look like on the ground. They can look somewhat purplish when viewed from a distance. But hang on a minute, what are those glorious yellow flowers?

A friendly lady explained to us that these are azaleas. The yellow ones, she told us, seem to be fragrant, unlike the other ones further up in the plantation.

You mean there are more of these?

Yes, she said, and in more dizzying colours than these. Just head straight down the path.

Bluebells forgotten, we eagerly made our way down the designated path.

And was rewarded with this:

































Anyone know what the flowers below are? They don't have any discernable fragrance. On the right are the leaves of the same tree.



















And a bonus pic for O-K:



Penat sungguh nak letak gambar ni! Must do as Mama Sarah does and use Picasa :)

4 Weeks old!

I remembered an old song from my younger and slimmer days:

I'm on the top of the world
Looking down on creation
And the only explaination I can find
Is the love that I found
Ever since you've been around
Oh you've put me at the top of the world

So why all of the sudden this song? Well April seems to be a month where most of my family and friends are having their birthdays. Everyone seems to be excited about the birth of the twins, the birthday of our doctor/photographer, and all.

In a way, everyone's life has been enriched in some way or another by having those that we love around us. (Yeah sounds cheesy doesn't it, especially coming from a hardcore blue collar guy!).

So let me tell you guys about a special something that has lifted my spirits somewhat over that last four weeks.

As you guys who have been following my posts knows, The last few weeks have been very hard for me because

a) KKL is not with me
b) I have to do the difficult task of giving my guys a rating

During these trying times God has helped me see things through by

a) KKL calling me almost daily for support
b) Blogs! - Reading KKL, Ichi, MS and Gang has kept me laughing and smiling
c) CeeVee!

For the first two, thank you all..

The third, CeeVee is now 4 weeks old! And what a good friend it has been. Nowadays I can't wait to finish work so I could just sit in it. I remembered how driving was such a chore. I used to be able to drive everywhere, but I had lost the passion. The roads made me sick. I would dread the white lines... made me nauseous.

With CeeVee I have rediscovered my passion for driving. I would even go back to Dungun from work, take a shower and drive back to Kerteh to see my friends just because the drive is so good. CeeVee has become such a big part of my daily life that I find it hard to remember how life was before.

I remembered feeling especially down last weekend, KKL suggested I drive around. At the time the idea was not too appealing but KKL can be very insistent at times. So I drove around. Within minutes my head was clear, just enjoying the feeling of the car under me.

So this entry is about CeeVee... May you drive safely into the sun....

Rediscover the passion

Saladin TV Series

I have a dream . . . . . .

Ello all!

Thanks for all the comments for my earlier posts! I have been very busy yesterday and today that I was not able to reply to most of them.

Last night I slept at three and awoke at six. After a quick shower went off to work... Things were going okay until I was called to a meeting to prepare for a meeting.. Wasted two hours of my life. As you guys can imagine by now my head's spinning from lack of sleep. So drank coffee....and went back to work.

Today is a Thursday so at around 4 I got in my car and drove to Kuantan. I arrived at five thirty, as the traffic was okay. My wife greeted me at the door warmly.. Hmm it's great to be married! Any way, as she just got back home from work we decided to go out for dinner. The MIL and FIL are still in KL with the small babies. We plan to go to KL tomorrow once KKL finishes work.. Any way went to this wonderful cafe that iKelah brought us to once. Yummy.. KKL drove as I was too sleepy.

After dinner we drove around town for a bit then drove home. Got back home at 8.30 pm. So at the moment I am just getting ready to sleep... ahhh.. It's great to be home!

Regards

15 minutes

A lot can happen in 15 minutes. We can cook maggi 5 times, we can take a shower three times, we can eat lunch.

On the way home I got a call from Honda saying they wanted to do a customer survey. I agreed. The lady on the phone then launch into rapid fire mode.... questions were flying left and right like missiles. I tried to slow her down as outside it was pouring... so the line was not too clear. But she continued any way.... must be trying to get the world record for number of questions in 15 minutes! Very efficient.

The whole thing reminded me of a scene I saw in a movie where two guys were interrogating a prisoner. no chance one..

So back to the meat of the OK work story (hmm kinda like Dilbert)..

Today was a bit better than yesterday. Not too stressful. But I had a headache the whole day. My SM called me and said "I'm sorry but what I am asking you to do will most likely take up so much of your time until tomorrow morning. But we need to get this in by tomorrow morning!" Then he proceeded to outline to me about this gentlemen who would be getting a 1 rating (best rating there is) and his justification needs to be great, greater than anyone can imagine. Of course world's cheapest spin doctor is available...

So I answered no problem. I said I could turn crap into gold and fart into perfume!

To work then...I was scratching my head... looking all busy and stuff... by 2.30 pm I was done.. hehehe... What a masterpiece it was (I can't show it here as it is private and confidential) but I tell you I am esp proud of all the padding I put in. From one page the entire thing became 3 pages! From 7 points it became 20.

KKL is right, I should be concentrating on my fantasy writing career as all I seem to do is writing fiction day in and day out.. hehehe.

Regards

First Official Entry

Cyberspace... the final frontier....

Okay enough of that... As some may know I have been posting very5 long comments on Ichi's blog as a means of venting... sometimes the comments have absolutely nothing to do with the main post. Hahahaha!

Of course as many can see I am really crap at this... a blog with no pics.. A friend put in pics of young girls to attract the crowds and make money. My sister writes about making money on the web.. me.. I have no idea where this will go.

Dear if you are reading this.. don't link this page to yours.. same goes to Ichi.. same reason you keep your blog private from the parental units.. It's a place to vent out.

So today I will tell a story of what happened to me at work.

Yesterday I posted on Ichi how I was not given any orders to do anything so I poked my nose in everything. Well today I still poked my nose around but I got very litle done..WHY???

Well for starters I have no real authority...

I am told that I will be the Asset Owner, but no authority has been given yet.. many technical reasons behind this. Any way, because of this people are not obliged to follow. Yesterday I joined a meeting discussing about the plant shutdown. I observed that there was something lacking in the planning.. ie.. thought..

I told the guys that the plan to have people work from 7 to 7 for 16 days is wrong and illegal. I thought that they listened but I was really angry when I found out that they proceeded to continue on what they planned. So I printed out the labour law gave it to them and let loose a barrage. In fact I think I may have called them stupid and arrogant for not following my advice and not using their heads.

Any way, today I was in no mood to be nice so I gave several broadsides to their plan. So far I have been very patient even when they made mistakes giving them the opportunity to correct it. Today I got tired.

I issued several statements making it clear what the (my) requirements were. I blasted them for not having a proper approved organisation. I fired on the fact that they let the cooling water condition go bad despite indications showing them the fact. I sarcastically remarked that they should take care of their subordinates better as one guy had been absent for three days without anyone even knowing. And I gave a scathing remark on how some people were saying they deserved a good rating when the company made more loss in the last year than the previous.

I told them that they think they are so good and were doing well when the reality is that the company was doing badly. They should feel ashamed for even asking..nay thinking that they deserved a good rating.

Felt really good..had a good laugh with the SS. Today they listened.

So the lesson here is:

Sometimes you just need to get tough and throw your weight around. If people percieve you as weak they will not respect you.

Regards

Errr...

Hello Ichi and all,

Well I seem to be suffering a little bit o the sleep hygiene thing.. just got back from Kerteh..

Any way, at the moment my teeth are killing me.. I think i need to go see a dentist this week. I have been putting it off for some time.. maybe there are a few hoels that need plugging.. another sure sign that time is catching up on me...

any way, on the way back I was thinking about my song compilation, the one i made for the ride. I observed how funny it was that on the way to work the last song to play is radiohead's creep and on the way home its usually Steve Miller's Band song The Joker.

Any way, I still need more songs to do a second compilation.. maybe I will choose better driving songs if i have a biggr sample.. one god one i heard just now was Cardigan's My favourite game.

At work today did plenty of stuff

a) redesigned a way to track staff performance over a period of one year

b) compiled all the financial data for both VCM and PVC plant

c) Discussed cooling water issue with Engineers with work instructions

d) Discussed about the Turn around as well as the organization for TA.

e) did some reshuffling of the personnel.

f) studied the plant

i would say doing things old school does help a little bit hehe

Okay then.. i'm going to try to sleep.

Regards

4:49 PM

Definition of a Geek

Hehehe.. some of my random thoughts :

So what do you call geeks that are not really geeks..

Calling someone a geek is like easily pegging someone to a sub group, marginalising them.. people I believe are more complex than that.

One can love reading, computers and studying but at the same time like sports, outdoor games as well as physical activities.

What actually is a geek livestyle? The health problems listed could easily be related to someone working two jobs trying to feed his/her family.. lack of sleep, headaches due to mounting medical bills, back pain due to heavy lifting and physical exertion, poor attention span due to lack of sleep and worrying about the bills. hehehe

I guess Americans (yeaps I am generalizing)like to stereotype people as it makes them feel comfortable when they can label something.. they rarely go out of their comfort zone and challenge the status quo. Uniqueness is not celebrated in their culture, conformity being the big buzz word.

For me everyone is a unique individual. More headaches as I need to treat differently but it is the only way to be fair.

Regards

PDA in Memory

Feel a bit upset as my PDA has died on me.. damn.. Dear, macam mana nak buat ni.. any way, rasa kena gi KL to get it fixed..

Really love that PDA as it has got all my appointments and stuff.. Now need to go back to old school style... paper..

Been trying to get some good shots but failed.. i had one good sunset scenery butI was rushing to get home so could not stop (needed to answer the call of nature) ah well.. maybe next time..

Had a conversation with a friend yesterday, asked me what I wanted to do.. I said out of the blue.. maybe jaga lorry.. The friend was appalled.. he said "with your skills why go and do something obscure like that?!"

I smiled and answered "Number one.. I would be going home to my wife (jaga lorry di Kuantan). Secondly, bukan jaga lorry bodoh2. I want to create a network/consortium of lorries, using Kuantan as a commercial hub... bla bla bla.."

So i outlined a plan where lorries would be based in Kuantan and used to send products to the west coast, but instead of coming back empty (as thy usually do), it comes back with goods for other companies, I would charge cheaper than what they had previously as I would be backhauling. I would have a workshop for all the lorries as it would be expensive to fix outside.

There is money to be gained from that... now all i need is a financial backer.

Hmm one can always dream....

Regards

11:06 PM

---

Ahh Ichi... still the bad rest hygiene I see.. much like my KKL nowadays.. all alone surrounded by pristine clean lab equipment.

Hehe..

I had to come in early today.. had to "berleter" to a supervisor who let his subordinate write a malicious email.

Not the best thing to do in the morning and not something I enjoy.

However, when we are working as a team malicious email of that nature is detrimental to the cohesiveness of the family.

Thus I had to take drastic action so that no drastic action was taken on the guy.

Let me explain. My Sr Mgr wanted to get rid of the guy (yeaps he sent it to the SM). I intervene as I knew the guy had some redeeming qualities. So as I compromise I had to move him to a different shift. (Bila tak tahu lagi)

hehe..

To MS.. thank you for the nice comments.. will take everthing into advisement.

Yeaps.. my laptop gone (muntah nyer pasal)... tapi tak nak beli as KKL dah ada laptop (one is enough - for now). Then my desktop rosak.. fixed it (RM 250 - new mboard - I was quite good not getting a new AMD 64 FX60 hehehehe), now the XDA IIi dah rosak... it was serving me very well, keeping me up to date on all my meetings.. and tasks..

Then it went kaput.. kept on crashing -damn you Bill Gates! - and now mati langsung..

Kalau zaman student dulu dah menangis gila2... i still need a PDA... and i loved my XDA...

ah well..

hehe another looooonnngg comment..

gotta go back to work now..

Regards

12:50 AM

---

Dearest OK,

What happened to your old Palm? Is that not still useable?
Anyway this lorry business is something new yea? I thought the plan was for me to become a career woman (sarari-wooman) while you become a stay at home hubby-cum-long-haired author of blockbuster fantasy novels. Once you hit the New York Times Bestseller list, I move into part-time hours so that we can homeschool our kids. I can teach them self-defence while you can teach them the rest, heheh. I'll do all the cooking by then.

I think I am learning a lot about management just listening to what you have to go through each day.

BTW what is bad rest hygiene?

Mynn and Mama Sarah
The phone and the PDA were one. I guess that's the caveat with having combined gadgets.

BTW when I dloaded the new iTunes, it couldn't find my playlist. Noooo. Does this mean I have to construct a new one? Argh.

You Hoe

In Dungun there is one place calle, You Hoe.

Where in the world do they get these names?

Regards

---

Hahaha.. picture You Hoe ada ngan KKL.

Midnight entry

Well folks,

Here I am midnight... in Malaysia at least.. writing an entry..

sometimes there are is some attraction of writing a blog or co-authoring one.. however, my busy schedule does not permit me too much time to do so. So what's diffrent about tonight? Well for one I slept soundly during the day, and secondly, I am loaded with caffiene.. Yeaps I am not giving that up... tried it.. my headaches were there.. caffiene relieves me, and calms me.. instead of making me hyper.. maybe because without it I am lethargic??

I have been doing a lot of thinking (my best thoughts are when I sleep btw), thinking about work, my family, life in general..

Well I decided to share some of my thoughts.

Life is seldom fair.

However, as long as we are fair to ourselves and our loved ones, that should be enough for anyway. Expecting more is being optimistic, so be prepared to be disappointed if we do so.

Currently watching "How i met your mother" A new comedy featuring people 28-32 yrs old. It is told in flashback form by the lead character Ted in 2030.

Pretty funny hehehe..

Listening to many things now.. from Andy Williams, to Queen, to Nikelback to Jap Pop.

I remember when I was younger being brought up with a healthy dose of Carpenters, ABBA, Lionel Ritchie, Boney M and Mike J.

My dad had Donna Summers, but my mom I think discourgaged us to listen to her as her front cover on the CD was way too sexy.. the irony was we listened to Madonna... hmm go figure..

Currently compiling some tracks for the car.. BTW.. car is gorgeous.. I mean both the looks and the ride. The sound system though not the best is immersive..there is even an aux jack for ipod.. and it plays mp3/wma.

At the moment listening to Destiny - Vanessa Mae.. hmm maybe a good overtaking song.. or should that be Storm?

Writing while listning to violins really do stimulate the brain..

down side is I am not sleepy at all.. hmmm

Also tried goblin bashing in Dungeon Siege 2. Played for three hours.. after that sick of looking at all the blood. Need to get Oblivion.. I here the graphics and sound are great. The story is also good.. so I read.

Now playing...
Rie fu - Life is like a boat

Okay for now... looking at my picture collection... maybe will try playing around with some photoshop... cool..

Now playing
Vanessa Mae - Storm.

Regards

Nikon vs Canon

Lens Canon mahal... hehe

Nikon murah sikit, plus backwards compatible..

Either way, kat Msia banyak second hand Canon and Nikon.. hehehe

So apa lagi.. beli dua2 sekali ler..

Kalau Canon.. kalau tak mampu yang mahal try the 350D

Kalau Nikon ada 2 choice D70s or D50.

D70s is superior but guna CF card ler
D50 tak jauh beza harga ngan D70s, but adavantage guna SD card.

If the stock was available at the time I would have gone with the D70s..

heck if I had more money i would have gone for both Nikon AND Canon....

so don't listen to me lah...

1:09 AM

Justification

Dear guys.. have you ever had to do something or been told to do something that ethically you feel is wrong and the entire fibre of your being is at a moral crossroad wondering which path to choose?

Well today I have been told to do just that. Remember I posted (hehe) before that I was doing some rewriting of some of the people in my company's justification.. Why me? Well I can turn some piece of Cr#$ somebody has written into something smelling like a bunch of roses.

Any way, today I had to do or redo a justification for someone who deep down inside I know did not deserve the two rating. When i completed the rewrite i compared the two, one the original written by the bas#@$% himself and the second was my rewrite. Essentially they were telling the same story but they were vastly different. The original implicated other people as being incompetant and the guy being some big hero. The rewrite paints a picture of a benign person who's only care in the world is to ensure everything runs smoothly and everyone is happy.

So i did the only thing I can do. Scrapped the rewrite and resent the original.

As the original was written by the person himself it is a reflection of what goes on in that person's soul. At least let other people read his story and judge for themselves. I for one will know that tonight I can sleep with a clear conscience.

Regards

4:49 PM

The reason people dont tease me at work is

a) I am bloody serious
b) I am the bloody boss - hehehe

The point is not really that we need to keep quite.. the trick is not to have a reaction (like Kuroyonagi).

Most of the time if people make a teasing remark me I pretend not to hear.. when there is no reaction, well... newton's law man...

10:42 AM

---

Hmmm Maybe for Itchy that look doesnt really go..

sometimes the best bet is to throw more fuel into the fire like say..

"Yeaps you guys are right.. I am looking for another wife.. i still have three more to go so are you guys interested (looking directly at the female friend who asked the question)"

That will definitely throw some people off kilter.

Another rebuttle would be "How can you say that when all I can think about is you."

Of course the all time killer would be.

"I am sorry she's not my type. I am really into guys nowadays"

Talk about an A-Bomb dropping....

If you had a D50... well the expression would be... priceless.. for all others there's mastercard

Regards

12:39 PM

Uncle De said...

OK, I agree, attack is the best defence...tapi kalau backfire mati la. imagine Muh face if suddenly the female friend pun balas balik "I've been feeling the same way about you too". haha, another priceless D50 moment there.

1:03 PM

On Food

Haa saw one ramen shop at the mines.. maybe next time i am in KL can visit that shop.. Remember dear... the one where we decided in the end just o go for the nasi ayam hehehe..

of course i was short on cash that day so me luvly wife belanja... hehehe..

next time round no worries..

Regards

11:44 AM

---

Ohio!!!

last time I was saying how much i missed things like

a) lontong
b) nasi ayam
c) ABC
d) ikan goreng bersalut tepung

any way, I had my chance so I had eaten all of them over the last one month. i also had that nice lamb thing at secret recipe. i think it is irish broth or something

my next target will be more different

a) sushi (at saisaki sushi)
b) len chee kang sejuk
c) some nice ice lemon tea
d) iced blended coffee
e) pizza
f) a steak or two

Hmm as for co-authoring blogs hehehe.. I am not that consistent when it comes to these things...

maybe when me wife is back i will.. looking forward to staying in the new house once it is complete.

Regards

1:29 PM

Using your brain

No matter what the camera.. again it is the brains and vision behind it that makes the picture great..

so practice with he POS until you feel that it is an extension of yourself..

when you upgrade upgrade big.. as to upgrade in small steps is a false economy...

however, save up.. do not use credit cards to buy it... unless you can pay back immediately.

once you embark on slrs.. first things first...

lens (start with a stock lens)
filters
tripod
memory cards
camera bag

once you have mastered the use of the basic eqm.

then go with your passion.

always good to have a decent set of lenses

a) macro
b) wide angle
c) telephoto

flash - only if you feel that the mounted flash (if there is one) is not sufficient

photoshop is a MUST esp photoshop CS.

It helps a lot in terms of workflow

However.. i cannot emphasise this enough.. no matter how state of the art your gear is.. the one behind the lens is what makes or breaks the picture.

Regards