The EOS 500D Post

I say, I am not going to rely on BS to take good quality pictures for Ziv. That's because, after months and months of mulling over 'which DSLR should I get?' I finally got one today!

I have only myself to blame for having to pay a full-price DSLR, my procrastinate attributes largely to my inability to redeem about $1000 worth of vouchers from Best Denki using my Amex points. What to do? I was really busy the whole of last week.

However, I got a good deal. Or so I thought.

I am hopelessly oblivious about cameras, not to mention DSLR. Till now, I still do not fathom why are they given such name. And all along, being a lackadaisical person, I told BS, "I will buy whatever camera you bought, so you can teach me. (I can skip reading the guide!)".

He told me several times the model of camera he bought, and that's because I kept asking and forgetting. In the end, I realized what he bought and what I have been checking on were two different models. Sigh! A '0' can mean a great deal of difference in terms of functions and PRICE! I almost fainted when he told me his was EOS50D and it cost about $2699 and the one I have been looking around was EOS500D. Unknown to the fact that 'how long this fad will last?' and 'Kev's constant assurance that I will leave the DSLR at one corner of the house eventually and perhaps incessantly complained that it was giving me a backache when carrying it around my neck', I concurred that those what-ifs are pretty likely to happen, so I stick on to my plan and bought EOS500D. Forget about the vouchers, can save that for other shopping treats.

In fact the features of 500D is similar to 50D except for some fps stuff, both are able to capture 14.1mp and that's all I need. Plus I only want 'pictures with blurry background' and now I know they are call aperture shots or whatever...

Paying for the item was a breeze, but unknowningly collecting the item was like hell. I queued alone for an hour! (Ziv & Kev waited in the car.) And luckily I have iPhone to tide me through the mind-numbing lining up. And by the way, the fair was at Expo.

We were also late for our monthly dinner reunion with our ex-neighbours. Was starving that I kept ordering food!

The first thing I said to Kev was, "Please settle Ziv, I need to spend time with my new toy."

First model was of course Ziv, but he was not in the mood to take pictures because he was dog tired from playing with Little T while we had our dinner just now. So naturally, my next target will be Coby, and among all others there are Doramon, the clock, the cross, the DVD....

Coby, my obliging and camera-loving model.

Coby again. My best model. The shutter is fast enough to capture his licking moment.

The jackpot machine at home.

Ziv's handicraft from school.

Handmade Fathers' Day present from Ziv.

I practically took pictures of everything that met my eyes while Kev & Ziv both had an early night. These are what I meant by good quality pictures. Say adious to pictures with shiny arms and head.

And finally, to complete my first sentence in the beginning, I say yes that I am still going to rely on BS, for the fact that Kev is a photography-idiot, I still need BS to take good quality and artistic pictures of me and Ziv.

How to beat the scorching weather?

Before I delve into the scorching weather, I am pleased to welcome a new member to the giant soft-toy entourage, Mickey Mouse, that is. Mickey is Ziv's latest fad, he wears Mickey t-shirt to school, lugs Mickey bag to weekend class, paste Mickey stickers all over our tops... Kids are just so capricious, you simply can't catch up with their thoughts.

Weather this weekend was extremely humid, it makes me wonder what's the number on the thermometers.

And it was pretty effortless for Ziv and Kevin to beat the burning weather. Grabbed a swimming trunk or suit, and took the lift to ground floor. Voila! I went down to see 2 animated pool dippers happily splashing water at each other. Ziv was pretty daring because he never tried being alone in the pool, perhaps the weather, it makes an aquaphobic opens up.

As for me? I still prefer Coke on ice cubes. And snapping pictures.

Running

I still recalled vividly how I ran and pant during my ASS Secondary 1 cross-country race, rubbing my skin against clammy perspiration on the other participants, the pungent BO around me, the scorching hot sun on top of my head making me 20% darker… I cursed throughout the running route and vowed that I WILL NEVER TAKE PART IN ANY RUNNING COMPETITION AGAIN!

True enough, I was bafflingly on MC for the rest my years in ASS as long as there was a running event. And I bore grudge on any other sports that are as rigorous as running.

Just when I thought that my detestation for running was carved in stone, I was called up upon by my gym kaki cum colleague to take part in the JP Morgan Chase, representing our company.
To end my work day early, I sold myself to the idea of running again.

Running 5.6km was no joke; it should be considered half marathon, as far as I know. I won’t mention my time because that will scare you people off, all I would say is, “I zipped along amazingly fast!” Haha.

Anyway, after the race, I got the urge to pick up running again (not as if I was previously into running, but for the fact that I took it out from a list of hobbies). I am still searching for a companion to run with me (half marathon) in the Shape run since I can’t do full marathon with my colleague. After that, I hope to train for Standard Chartered and Army Marathon later this year with Kevin.

I am so so so SPORTY.

BTW, here’s a picture of the running team before the race.

Ip Man

You know, I'll reflect each time after watching a movie.

Shutter Island: How sad it is to have mental problem. The movie sheds light on the lives of patients who have mental problems and provides insights on the pain of not knowing who you are.

And this week, I caught Ip Man 1 & 2.

I was never touched by action flick. And I thought I never will. Thanks to Jackie Chan, I only turn to action flick when I have nothing to watch. And so, I didn't even realized that Ip Man 1 was kept in one of the many unopen boxes until I needed to find a Hi-5 dvd for Ziv.

Ip Man 1, people who practice martial arts or as a matter of fact, chinese kungfu are often stereotyped as boorish, boisterous and often they belong to the raucous group of people. On the contrary, assuming that the film is based on the real character of Ip Man, he was refine and cultured. He was reasonable and he loved his wife. I remembered his quote vividly, "世上没有怕老婆的男人，只有尊敬老婆的男人." And for this show, it reminds me how much I hated Japanese for their cruel ambition to conquer the world. It reminded me that we can forgive the Japanese for what they have done but never, never to forget what they have done to us. Something that will always remain as a fact no matter how many Takuya Kimura they may have to mesmerize us females. And I strongly believe the fact that good things will happen to people who do good deeds.

Ip Man 2, I hated the arrogant and pompous Ang Mos. And I knew such thing do happen even to-date but in a less audacious manner as compared to the past. But I was enlighten by what Ip Man said, "今天的胜负，我不是想证明我们中国的武术，比西洋拳更加优胜。我只是想说，人的地位，虽然有高低之分，但是人格不该有贵贱之别。我很希望，从这一刻开始，我们大家可以学会懂得怎样去互相尊重." Again, Ip Man's nobility touched me once again.

Another thing worth mentioning is Ip Man's wife. It makes me realized the importance of suporting your spouse in whatever he wants to do. Don't say No because you never know what will come your way when you say Yes to your spouse. I am glad that I did not try to change Kevin or tell him not to do something he likes, changing a person will never make him/her happy and this person will never be the person whom you used to love. Love is not to change a person but to love him/her for who he/she is.

It's kind of interesting and amazing at the same time that how a movie can alter our views and make me a better person.

Look forward to more of such movies, and Ip Man 3, if any.

New Abode Renovation Part 2

Yesterday was somewhat a fruitful day.

10am: Woke up in a state of utter denial and shock. My iPhone reflected 28 missed calls and they were all from Kevin, I knew he was already waiting for us at the car porch. I could not believe it was THIS late. Changed and left the house with Ziv without makeup. I knew that I got to vamoose before Kevin the volcano erupted.

10:30am: Reached MIL’s place. Deposit Ziv and off we sped to our new abode. Our interior designer arranged someone to cover our floor tiles and aircon with cardboard.

10:40am: Kevin led the contractor into our house while I stayed in car to makeup. We left new abode to go to Serangoon Garden for Mac breakfast.

10:59am: Managed to grab the Mac breakfast instead of lunch. Back to new abode to meet up with interior designer to have a final consensus on the design.

11:10am: We were late. The interior designer arrived earlier than us, for the first time. Brain storm, took measurements etc…

2:06pm: Designer left our abode, and immediately came the architect, developer OUB, management office head and some other uncles to discuss about the roof terrace. Arrived on a common consensus and we were glad that in the event our privacy is being intruded, we will win the case if we decided to bring it to the court. That’s enough. Not trying to be eristic, but somehow, people like them failed to think ahead.

3:15pm: Went to the bank to withdraw money, change NRIC address, bank in money, and sign up sales talk with Kevin.

5:40pm: Finally, we had time to sit down and have dinner together.

7:00pm: Drove back to the sojourn to wait for mover guy to send us the empty boxes and conduct on-site quotation. That’s the problem with apartment without guards, you have to be at home for very minor stuff.

7:30pm: Sped off again to town to collect our lightings since they closed at 8pm.

8:20pm: Back to new abode to store all the lightings.

9:00pm: Finally, ended the day with long hot bath and snacking in front of the TV to watch IP Man 1 with Kevin till 11pm.

I have never been so worn-out.

New Abode Renovation Journal Part 1

Few days ago, I took a day off to conduct defects rectification with the developer. I hate to kvetch consistently because at this point of time, defects rectification is not my priority. I will be having a huge tongue wagging battle with the architects over some design faults on the roof terrace coming Monday. Will leave that to a later post.

Anyway, we requested for the developer to replace tiles for us, the marbles tiles on the floor were of different shades and obviously they are from different batches. For that, Kevin cannot accept it. “Your negligence is not our problem,” was what he asserted (to the developer). We have been reasonably lenient with the rectification, but somehow, more defects surfaced after the rectification. What a headache!

Nevertheless, the developer promised to get everything replace and so that we can officially start our renovation this coming Monday.

To put it bluntly, the interior designer’s design ideas is rather insipid. I have high expectation because the company was awarded as one of the promising brands in Singapore. We are starting renovation on Monday and yet the sketches are not even confirmed! Oh well, I don’t like to rely on others, so most of the time I took over the 2B sketch pencil to cover his duty. I don’t mind doing that if he charges cheaper afterall, it is my house, so I should design it my way. Contradicting. Fine. I’ll do the job.

We plan to complete the renovation in 3 weeks to 1 month’s time so we have ample time to move in and leave our current sojourn between 15 to 18 June.

We have yet to buy lightings (another big headache) and I saw a wall mural which I really fancy, it has a hefty price tag of $800 and was from Thailand! Overprice for sure. I am trying to get a bargain from the boss.

Next up… the battle with the architects.

The Fateful Wednesday

This Wednesday, the entire office (or just me?) will be mourning over the loss of the ever-reliable Skype, the time-killing cum entertaining MSN, the contingency-messenger-yahoo mail and the final-trump-card Google chat.

Gone! Gone! Gone!

They will ALL be GONE!

Talking about that, it is not even Wednesday and the MSN was already down.
I will be taking a day off on Wednesday to grieve over the loss and gonna have a few bites of katsu cutlet and a few more bites of soft shell crab to face the upcoming catastrophe and uncertainties.

Well, every cloud has a silver lining, fortunately, FB, Blogger, emails and other connecting apps are still made available with my trustworthy iPhone. What will I do without you, my dearest iPhone! It seemed that iPhone is becoming more trustworthy than Kev.

Suggestions on how to re-connect with the outside world are welcomed and will be seriously considered.