Wine Fest at Vivo ~by Cold Storage

As i thought i was only going for a movie, i didnt bring my cammie along. Apparently, there was a wine fest and since i am meeting Gene, (An Alcohol Addict), i knew he will definitely not miss the chance.

As for me, a barely alocohol taker, its uncommon to see me joining in the tasting and testing session there. Haha, somehow i felt it was quite fun and an additional insight for me since there were expert at each wine counter providing details of their red wine.

My favourite? Dessert Wine and Ice Wine
Maybe you can call it a Lady's favourite drink, but i definitely prefer them over Red Wine. The pungent smell of the red wine puts me off immediately even before i took a sip. I think i will never learn to appreciate how nice Red wine is. That goes for Rose related wine. The Red colour is attractive but tasted equally tough on my taste bud.

After a single round of tasting, i think the alocohol effect kicks in. Yes, with an empty stomach, i could feel the heat. That was when we decided to go for dinner.

These are my 2 purchases, they are so nice for an unappreciative person like me,
especially this "Moscato" wine. With just 5.5% alcohol content, its so smooth, and the sweetness was just right. It tasted like any sort of fruit juice but better.



My next purchase which to our discussion seems to be the more presentable during events or house visiting..

TAMINGA Dessert Wine..11% alcohol content and apparently its more presentable because it's dated 2005


If you are a slightly stronger drinker, this suits you well.
A taste of Fruits flavouring till a point, we find that it carries lychee flavouring. The aroma lingers on your taste bud after every sip you take.
Not too shabby for a after-dinner drink with friends.

This for Xmas!




Its my first purchase of wine..and unlike Gene, i wont be touching it myself!

Dizzy Dally

I used to be the one over relying on my friends to plan whenever we decide to go for a tour.
Always, waiting for people to feed me information and here I am, stuck in a similar situation with my family. Retribution?

I cannot understand why my mum always this cannot, that also cannot.. Maybe in future when I reach her age, I will understand. Wishy Washy, no idea if she wants or don want. When buying the tour package, she reluctantly followed. Not even looking through the itinery and only compare prices when the tour package is booked.
Next, don’t wish to join the crowd at NATAS but hoping to get the same discounted price for the travel insurance. And I know she wanted me to go buy it for all of them and she just sit and wait for my sis to pick her up to shop.

There are 101 things I really don’t understand. My younger sister resembles her a lot and both of them can make my blood boils.
I really hope this trip will be a fun one and trust me, I will be more than reluctant to join them in future tours after this. Let’s just hope things goes well at least for this trip!

On the streets

Yes...im so satisfied with my new lens..its incredibly sharp for that price i got it for.
And yes, i am going to carry it to Shanghai with me!

Some streets shot
At max range 75mm...at aperture F3.2


A common sight during this month.


Construction everywhere, think its gonna be a matter of time, all these heritage are gone..



My favourite Soya Chicken noodles..everything has changed, but not the taste of this noodle! Yummy...oh and i saw mrs tang n family there too. Hohoho Such a coincident.


I do have some little shots over the weekend at Joo Chiat, will upload when im done processing them..

My Final Destination for the Year 2009

After many weeks of probing, discussion and decision, we have come to an agreement on the destination.

Yes finally! From Taiwan to Korea to Bangkok and Macau, we finally decided to go to...China, Shanghai! I never thought i would go China before i reach the age of 40.

My 8D Shanghai/Hangzhou/Suzhou/Wuxi/Nanjing
http://www.asaholiday.com/tour/tour_search.php?act=show_detail&trtypeid=1264

It’s quite cheap, the date I set off has a one for one promotion. So per person is only approximately $884/net.
And we will be on a full itinery with no discount of any days. SQ flight plus a min of 4 stars hotel stay, with 90 percent meals included.

And to make things finalized and to ease all my frustration with my ever indecisive mother, I placed a deposit with ASA tour. Although they look abit not very classy, their service is good.
The lady wasn’t pushy and provided answers to each of our queries without a little slight discontentment. Further to that, a very nice lady offers me a chance on some lucky draw and I have gotten for myself a rebate on the spot of $23.

Look at the crowds, seems like a lot of people are skipping Natas and went off to book before Natas, For bigger travel agency, their price should be similar. For smaller agency, apparently, their price isnt align to NATAS fair yet.



There is a reason why I am posting these unglamorous n unprofessional shots of 2 backsides here. This couple are so grouchy and keep mentioning, “Complain” “Complain”and Tsking non stop.
Actually, I felt they should record down their behavior and review how ugly they look.


In my opinion, I think they are nowhere here or there in term of status. And I am considered lucky since she isn’t in my tour.

Oh yah, not forgetting my 2 very nice bosses who gave me their blessing for this trip so I can finally pull myself away from all those very scary and tedious work that is already planned ahead!

China!! Here i come!

Friday always a better day

Finally, i brought my camera or should i say my new lens out on a testing trip for taking potraits...but the availability of volunteer was quite limited.
That was even with considering my office colleagues as being my model in exchange for some pictures by a non professional.
I wanted to take a picture of my boss Ms Brie...but she was so busy during the whole day that i do not dare to request a short photography session in her cubicle. Of course not!!! Not at the expense of leaving her an impression that i am free while she is overloaded with work!

So i sneak around trying to find a target as discreetly as i can.

Fion...while she is having her after lunch touch up! Trying to get her as natural as possible..



Anyway i left my hopes on my gathering with Xin and Li...
While we waited for our dinner to be served!
I think this is the best picture i have gotten in terms of lighting and sharpness.
It will be very good if its more natural..


This is quite natural but without any flash....



Yes, i know you girls are going to tell me how ugly i shoot, and i suppose that is what your comments are. Apparently, no girls are satisfied with their own looks!! Erm...haha..but its true that i need more practice. I need to start reading again!

Dinner dinner n more dinner

The day was so boring that the air around my desk is stale. The work is getting less and less interesting and the people around me seem to be spiritless. Was it only me?
Or was it my job that without much noticing becoming more and more stagnant and comfortable?

Anyway, I always tried to spice up my life a little in the evening, so today finally after like half a year, I met up with Wen and Petty.

Away from the roaring streets in town, we chose Central. There isn’t any crowds to begin with but this restaurant that we went to called “Yummy Seoul” was quite nice. Ambience was great and the food is decent. Price wise, it’s quite affordable. The only irritating part is the waiter was standing too close to our table. Yes, although it seems like we were having a personal attendant to ourselves, our conversations also restricted with their presence.

Well, at least I thought Petty would be so nice to insist on being host for this dinner..haha…which she didn’t, rather disappointing.

It seems like these girls has finally grown up and everything was like “just yesterday” when we graduated and now they are planning on settling down and to start their family.

Of course, if you ask me, I would be more than happy for them.
Yeah…I wish them the best and hopefully the next meet up would be at some wedding dinner!

Boeing 747 vs Porsche

So who will win??



I cant believed that i am not allowed to view this event live. No priviledge given to a staff of the airport as well. Now, i am trying my resources to see how i can get myself a good seat with my camera also....haha..

My New Potrait Lens

Yes, after so long, i have finally gotten a lens of my choice.
Not willing to spend too much on them, i have decided to get the best within my budget of $600.

"Blink"
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8
I got it at $575 after a fierce bargaining with the uncle in the shop. Apparently, they quoted me earlier $570 and when i was there, they quoted $600. It's a little unethical for them to raise the price upon meeting demand for the lens. Luckily, i did a little homework before heading down and got it at $575. So for all folks, if you are purchasing stuff from these shops, its good to call and make them honour their words.

Since, there are no model present, I tried potrait shots on winnie the pooh..without permission from the owner.

Lady Gaga!

Her songs were recently added to my player and so happened there is a meet and greet session with Lady Gaga. Famous for her "Kua Zhang" outfits, everyone was full of anticipation for her arrival.

I was late for the event but i managed to catch a glimpse of her. Too bad, i wasn't good enough with my camera and missed alot of opportunity to get some direct shots.

The event drew very little crowd which was expected since more than half in my office don't know who Lady GaGa was. To be correct, only 3 person knew who she was.

That was why i could get so near her with no people in front...
Here some of my shots..i think she don really look like her.





Oh yah, jamie was the hosting DJ for the event..and after GaGa left, everyone was asking her for picture session. Reasons? because GaGa came and left within 10 mins..there wasn't much chance for photo taking.

Jamie sat in the middle and don ask me who the rest was, except for Gene and Jessie, the rest i don know and i bet they hated me so much so that they are cutting me away from this picture. We just crash in at the expense of them for this picture. Haha


A professional shot of Lady GaGa..contributed by Yvonne after realising i didnt have a decent shot of her. Pics taken by our hired camera man.



Playing her song here if u don know who she is.

Walking through Chinatown P2

The Temple that was built at the cost of aggressive donations from public. So much so i questioned if there is a need for such a place of worship. Would Buddha agree to be coated in Gold?

Leaving all the debates away...

Walking through Chinatown P1

Starting off my journey by showing some of the pics of places that carries abit of memories for me. Most places have changed, but there are still some things that remains the same.
I spend half of my childhood at Mosque street..and stepping on this back alley brings back the same feeling as before..everything has changed, except here..smells of rat's poo!


This alley remains and this signature shop still stays strong keeping the taste of the once famous soya chicken. Delicious!


The very traditional cake house remains at the same location. Although being surrounded by new shops and pubs, this shop still stand out from the rest. At least the very minimum, the taste of its biscuits remains unchanged.




And finally...a trishaw that is no longer an attraction for singaporean...


Sadly, i couldn't even locate where was the shophouse that my granny used to stay.
Alot have changed and i hope the remaining shops there remain..remain with the culture!

Sony Walkman...

I know some of you might have seen this player in the market. Apparently, i did as well and i was still finding it a little over priced.

For 2GB, no screen display, no video capability, its definitely not worth the price of $129. But, Guess what, when my friend passes me a voucher that i can purchase it for $99, i couldn't resist the temptation and gotten myself one.

Don't ask me where the money came from, it just came and drop from heaven..haha

I tested it this morning when i was awaken by the next door baby...and my first reaction was "WOW!"..I was blasted off with the excellent sound system that this small little thing produced. Much much better than my IPOD and creative.

Not doing an advertisement for them but this is what i noticed..
1) 3 mins fast charging can last me 90mins! That means, i just need to pluck it in to my computer for 3 mins and i can listen to 1.5hrs continuous.

2) No wire and before you say "big deal", i must emphasized that firstly, you wont encounter problem of dangling wires when you reach for your ear phones. Secondly, you wont risk separating the wire and the ear plug. Thirdly, you wont have problem of the ear plug being too small to fit nicely on ur ears.
Yes, it was designed to fit everyone ears nicely and comfortably. Even when you are running.

3) The Zapping function that allows a 5mins chorus of each songs to be introduced flushing through the whole list of songs you have stored!
Its like a KTV menu that shows part of the MTV before you select what you want.

4) This applies to me and guys who love to hand carry their bags rather than side sling. There is no wire, you don need to hand carry your mp3.

5) Its a selfish mp3 player, you cant share one of the ear plug with your beloved or in my case, friends and its really meant for you alone!

6) All you need to do is drag and drop, simple and fast. No software required!

here's mine!

A day on the streets

Was planning to get a new lens but didnt managed to get it. The first time i saw the shop owner refusing to sell this lens to me. It might be a good thing that i walked away.
After such a long time, i finally took my camera for a walk and thanks to Li and Vin for enduring my slow slow journey to Chinatown.

Miss Universe 2009 - Emphasizing Ms Singapore

In the past, i remembered while watching pageant, i always waited so hard for Miss Singapore to appear and each time hoping they could get into the finals. As each year passes by, my hopes declined from Final to Semi Final to Quarter Finals and finally now....I just cannot be bothered.

Somehow i came by this post from the forum about Miss Singapore and if you wish, click on the link for some sneak preview.

http://www.asiaone.com/static/multimedia/gallery/090805_msuni/

What is so interesting tat i would make an entry on this topic is the below joke shared in the forum.

Ermm..its a little dirty thou but damn funny. Read at your own discretion!

It is the final round of the Miss Universe 2009 and the 3 finalists, Miss USA,
Miss Malaysia and Miss Singapore are being asked 3 simple questions :-

MC: The first question is name me an electrical appliance starting with 'L'
Miss USA : Lamp
Miss Malaysia : Light bulb
Miss Singapore : LADIO
Judge: No, no, Radio does not start with the letter 'L'

MC: I am going to give you 3 more chances; Now, name me an animal starting
with the letter 'L'
Miss USA : Lion
Miss Malaysia : Leopard
Miss Singapore : LABBIT
Judge: No, no, no!

MC: Your next chance. The name of a famous car that starts with 'L'
Miss USA : Lexus
Miss Malaysia : Lamborgini
Miss Singapore : Lolls- Loyce
Judge: Oh my God!

MC: I am going to give you one last chance! Name me a fruit starting with the
letter 'L'
Miss USA : Lemon
Miss Malaysia : Lychee
Miss Singapore , with full of confidence, smiles and says:
LIEWLIAN !! (durian)

This is not the end of the story, the Judge consulted the board of judges to
determine if Miss Singapore should really be disqualified; and they decided
that since Miss Singapore was having so many problems With the letter 'L',
they decided to give her another chance.

Judge: OK, the final question is : Name me a human anatomy starting with
the letter 'L'
Miss USA : Lung (applause)
Miss Malaysia : Liver (even more applause)
Miss Singapore :



LJ !!!
The Judges fainted ...

Half a day for pleasure with a person with Phone!

I took half a day today for a shopping session since Sotong is on leave and coming down all the way from Jurong to Airport to meet me for lunch. So i thought i could show her around the east area.

Straight after lunch at Swenson Earl, we headed down to Tampines Mall for a short shopping trip and at the same time to catch a movie. Nothing much to update here since there was no great buys and the movie was quite disturbing and boring. Won't disclose which movie it was so you guys can't be spared from choosing it. Haha

Have you ever been out with a friend who happened to have the phone glued to her hand?

I was so surprised that at the same time, the incoming traffic of her smses was so overwhelming..

Every interval of 10mins there will be a buzz from her handphone.

I appreciated the effort of her communicating with me but this only shows how good she can be at multi tasking. Applaused!

Eating smsing, go toilet smsing, watching movie smsing, on mrt smsing....

This is the one of the pics i took while she is on it and if i were to snap a picture on every spot, i think it will fill one whole page of my blog.

ITS IRRITATING SOTONG! haha

I pity her fingers, they look super exhausted! Think she will kill me over this post?...Nah, she is such a nice lady, gentle and caring. (Some flattering here to ease some tensions=))

Oh yah, All girls out there..there is a flea market this saturday. Yes, 8th August, at Home Club @ 20 Upper Circular Road, #B1-01/06, The Riverwalk. Closet Elves will be there and if you need a map, please refer here http://closet-elves.livejournal.com/

Don't worry it will be another Mount sophia where the aircon break down, bet its a nice place to cool....

Have Fun!

A good picture enhances sales

Guess what,

I sold my smelly lousy Scorpion Blades for $70! With just 1 View from the 1st bidder, I sold it to him within 3 mins. Let's analyse it.

Ebay Link

A good picture covering all angles = Viewers
A pair of nicely "AIR" product spray with odour removal = Satisfaction
A Good Sales person who is good at Bargaining and convincing = DEAL

So i got a satisfied buyer and gotten myself a good price that is not worth further bargaining for the buyer.

Somehow, for this price, it implied no after sales service so good luck to that uncle!

Since its sold, i can reveal my reviews truthfully to everyone who wish to know how good scorpion's blade are.

1) The ABEC 7 are fake. I mean fake as in, it doesnt perform to what others expect.

2) The wheels are so so so tough that i can't glide further than 2metres. Even when i dash full speed...the most i glide 2 metres plus.

3) No matter how i oil and loosen it, it just wont give me the smoothness

4) The brake are useless...and what i meant by useless is that you don't need to use it at all. Remember 2 metres be in down from slope or whatever. I nvr learn how to brake and i need not.

5) The metal looks cool compared to plastic..but its damn heavy...especially after a long day of skating.

6) It is so uncomfortable that on the side of my feet, upon rubbing internally, it gives me sore and blister that is so ugly and painful that subside only after 2 weeks.

If you are asking me if i felt guilty of selling it by not revealing to the seller, I am not.

I tried to be truthful by reflecting the price and he did not ask for my opinion. Anyway, i throwed in the guards and the bag for the blades..hee...good luck to him!

Next up the 2 fishes updates...
If you are thinking, who wants to buy your fish...

There are plenty out there willing to bid for them..

This is what i put up...ermm yes..(blush) i am pikapig. Thats my ID in forum. Sounds very ermmm...at least it makes you perceive i am innocent, young and cute!

And its not the end to the bidding. I still have hours to go before i close the deal and from experience, geniune buyers bid at the last min and i know there are some forummers eyeing these fishes of mine!

Even without further bids, i am fetching back a $31 from them...in total...$100!

Cheers! Anyone need to hire me as sales!