So fast, another year

I simply cant remember how the last year was spent. How many trips i made, how many sorrowful and detestable things that i was forced to do...
I cant think of any achievement at work and then, they say that the year is ending.

Well, i still enjoy every moment of my single life, enjoying the company of friends, the passion for photography and the moments captured on every trip. There are things which i would love to do but didnt managed to complete this year, and i hope i can spare some times to get them sorted out next year.

Hopefully next year would be a better year, where i can spend my quality time with my family and friends.

Be Nice

Sometimes being nice to others is also being nice to yourself. The last blog shop shoot that i did at fort canning, was a much enjoyable session. Despite the heavy rain, everyone was being very patient and nice throughout. So different from the first shoot that i did...

Well personality plays a part, but i always believed that you dont need to take an extra step to be nice..it shld be effortless...

A little Classy

I am already feeling the festive mood, this month and seriously, getting presents for myself and friends seems to be quite enjoyable this year. Not that i buy alot, but i didnt really buy alot.

I basically just walk along to see if there are any suitable gifts for friends and colleagues..and if i didnt see any...no point stressing up to buy things that probably the person will frown receiving them.

I hope others will do that for me too...Only buy if there is something you think i will use it..if not, its perfectly fine to skip the gift. We can always meet up for a drink...:)

Anyway, i got a nice little S3 cover for my phone..thanks fionis for the perfect thought all the way from Korea... and i bought a new Seiko Automatic 21 jewel watch at a great bargain...well it does look a little retro...but its definitely a classic!~

Gene + AH Sie = Chloe

Congrats Gene and Sie...Baby Chloe's visit to our office!


Having a sweet dream!




Started getting a little annoyed


Back in lala land!

While im still recovering from my past few busy weeks, the arrival of X'mas was quite unexpected. Not till i received my first X'mas present.

Phil got me a wonderful gift...the well-liked soft release from De Camera Consultant that can be used on my cameras...


Eddie got me this very interesting tag...and of course, "Pikapig" is me....yup the faithful nick that accompanied me thru many forums.

Its a bag tag and although these gifts are small..the thoughts are big...

My highest traffic in history

I got a shock this morning to see this in my Camerani blog.

Apparently these high traffics came from my lousy Fuji XE1 write up. The viewing is still climbing even today and this could be explained by the popularity of this new Camera.

http://camerani.blogspot.sg/2012/12/my-shooting-experience-with-xe1.html

Gifts this year

Its really the peak of the peak this year at work...
Countless nights spend OTing and whatever remains was sleeping timing... This year although its busy, i got plenty of celebrations and gifts from friends. Well wishes etc...

Some of the best gifts i had
Cards...i love the well wishes written on each card...


My Brady bag...hesitated for the longest period before i bought it. Its suppose to be my working bag...and a gift for myself.


I had so many birthday cakes this year...thanks to all my friends...blowing out candles is never a chore...its one of the best representation of aging...haha


Desmond treated us to a great dinner at Fengshui Inn on sunday...it was a family celebration!

Macarons from Xy...really nice of her...


My actual day was spent with the 2 ladies and had a really full dinner plus dessert....i cant imagine how can they eat so much..haha

And the final celebration was with Esther, Jen and Joanne...its really belated for this celebration and i feel kinda bad as i just cant meet the timing due to my busy work...



Well i also got some hongbaos from my colleagues and family members...and all these went to funding my Fuji XE1.

Sheryl got me a coach belt and Cavin bought me a pen..the gifts and thoughts really counts...and i treasure each and every single thing i received...its not common that you get celebrations after 30's..and its not usual that people remembered your birthday. Its not to be taken granted and i really do appreciate what they have done for me on this special day.

The good news is, with the ending of all these celebrations, my hectic work schedule finally came to a stop. Another milestone met!

Thanks everyone for making it memorable!

On this day...

This special day for me is going to end in an hour time as i unwillingly accept my life past 30's and i thought i should write something that i felt through the past few days.

This year was actually a good year for me and all these were made happened by supports from friends, colleagues, bosses and family. I couldnt have done well in my career without Sheryl's support and guidance, without the mentoring from Cavin as well as my great team-mate shu yu's help.

Aside from the political struggles among the top management, my VP and CFO has been kind to me as well.

Colleagues from one division to another was really supportive of my work...even my lunch group brings joy to each lunch session we had...and this really lowered the amount of stress that i had..

And it is on this very day, when you realized how lucky you are....Friends who came out from nowhere offered their well wishes...and in fact, these are people whom i do not remember their birthday...I have to admit that unless it falls on a special day, if not, i wont have remembered anything. It just isn't me...and i hoped that most of my friends wont mind this....but if i know, i wont hide away from giving my well wishes..

I believed friendships are built on reciprocity for many and to some, its really more than asking and giving...

Important dates are not really that important...its really the thoughts that counts. Dates are just an excuse for greetings and meet up..so if the basic greetings are purposely shunned away...then what is the meaning to be friends? 

They always say this..

If you have a friend that calls u only when they feel bored and asked u to entertain them...then probably you are nothing more than a clown to them...

If you have a friend who feels bored and decided to call you out for a tea...then she/he really place you in her friendship listing.

If you have a friend that calls you when she/he is sad and ask u for a company thats all...you are just a substitute...

If you have a friend that calls you when she/he is sad and confide in you then you found yourself a good buddy...

If you have a friend who will message you during their happy times, even on holidays, then that is a true friend...

And finally if you have a friend who always have you in mind even for the tiniest thing, then you are really lucky...

Definitions are a thin line but it makes a huge difference.

Im glad that i have friends from all of the above...and in fact lucky enough to have more than 1 of the last few categories of friends....

Family are relatively important...and to me, nothing can replace a family's care and concern...

My childhood wasnt a really happy one...the few good memories that i had on birthdays are things like my dad buying me stationery as a gift, mum cooking food and inviting relatives over, my god ma buying me my birthday present.

I'm not very well liked among my relatives. I dont have fanciful birthday parties, no big presents unlike my cousins..Birthday to me was boring..sad..and disappointment. The only thing that i still felt lucky was the family love that i have gotten...

And it was also then that i realized, instead of looking forward for gifts from others, why not earn it myself...

This really motivates me...and although now that im able to buy the things i like, i do look forward to little thoughtful presents from friends as well..its really the thoughts that counts.

I have colleagues(Mag) from another division buying me bubble tea today, Daryl who popped by my cubicle this afternoon..and Jen who messages me over gtalk...these are little gesture that touches me...even a simple handshake from many other colleagues....and to me these are things that i cant buy....and these are precious.

Dinner date with Bff and gangs next fri, Choy and Wendy whom blocked their time off today to just have dinner with me....n many others..these are really nice considerable gifts and gesture that brighten up my celebrations.

My dearest bosses who frantically looking for presents every year for me...stressed up when i refused to tell them what i want..haha...

So if you are sincerely wishing me that i would end my single life soon, i would love to as well, if i meet the right girl...but then since this is not something controllable, i will continue to enjoy my happy single days...:)

Congrats to Fion and Kevin

Finally one of my best friend has gotten married and with all the panics and depression that she is having...she finally finished the process and move on to the next phase in Life.

Congrats to the both of them and may they have a blissful marriage ahead.


And here's the table im in..catching up with friends that i haven met for a while..





Something to mention about this dinner was the poor services from the hotel Grand Park Cityhall...i thought it was a 2 stars hotel...

Start of the unlucky days

Think my luck is running out, first attended a wedding where i had to wait at the recept for a seat to be placed at the desk that im assigned to and then, a shout out session with my boss at the cafe over my leaves applied in January. Everything seems to go the wrong way these days...

Convict Cichlid

I used to keep 2 normal convicts cichlid before..they are the prettiest and most hardy cichlid in my opinion...however back then, due to tank size constraint and their aggressiveness, i had to sell them away...

Last month, while we were at Qianhu, i saw another more refine species of convict cichlid for sale. With so many empty tank around, i thought maybe i should get a pair and breed them...
Choosing a pair in the tank is easy..females who are ready to mate has a red belly...


Less than 1 week...they really breed....thou expected, still joyous to me..

Female started laying the eggs on the shell that i provided..she stand guard around the area


When the eggs hatched after 1 week...she place them in a corner


Free swimming fries after 1 week of hatch


Natural instinct, the fries stays very close to the parent


Here's the male, he doesnt really do much..except gobbling up all the food..


Family shots...


Give it another 1 week or so, i should remove the fries from the tank...

On this day

If there is a country that i would miss so much, its Japan...
and to think its almost 1 year since my last trip. Last year i travelled there with Fion during my birthday and spent a simple birthday celebration in the country i yearn most!
Still remembered that we ate shabu shabu buffet at Osaka on my birthday...

The Matcha Soft Ice cream at Kyoto streets


The Geisha spotted along the streets


The beautiful and full of character alleys in Japan


Definitely a nice country to re explore....the next time, i will visit it in Winter!

Another Wedding

Well, this year, i chose to be a little more selective in the wedding invitation that i received.
Like i always says, i find that these days, the wedding banquet seems rather meaningless...not to mention that some which i have attended was more like a process flow. I couldnt appreciate and feel the importance of attending such a session...
Having said that, i know that there could be a different objective and perception to others which i, personally cant feel it...and so I promised myself that i will be more objective and only attend friends who were close to me.

Yesterday, i attended this amazing wedding, Gordon and Weili, which i would like to share here...i wasnt really close with Gordon, we were colleagues once and when he asked me if i would like to attend his wedding, i agreed.
I could feel his sincerity.

It was a small event as the invited guest wasnt alot. What surprised me was the video played during the wedding...the groom and bride produced a pre wedding movie clip that was really entertaining. It spoke about their past and relationships, re enact scenes of them being together since 2001. It was heartwarming...
I was surprised that the wedding videography has reached such a creative stage...directing, viewing and filming is no longer restricted to just movies...

The credits goes to to the sporty groom and bride as well as the bunch of brothers who help rehearsing over and over to make the video works...
The hype of the whole video screening was during their 2nd march in...the groom gate crash was filmed using gangnam style MTV...
It was hilarious even seeing so many versions on internet.

(Pictures took off the groom's facebook)


Well, it was quite a simple dinner and during the speech by the groom, he mentioned that he found his true love 7 years ago, when he was diagnosed with some illness that requires an operation where the chances of him being paralyzed after the operation was high...The bride then, promised to stay with him even so...and that was during the days of schooling...
That's True Love!

So once again, i thank the couple for inviting us to share a joyous occasion with them and hereby wishing them a blissful marriage!

Ethan's birthday

Well as usual, Nov is a month full of activities such as wedding, baby shower etc..but this round, the the venue was a little special. Its at Sentosa Cove, One 15 degrees club.

Its my first time going to this part of the island so there is always this anticipation and excitement that triggers the thought of going. Maybe because of that, we were among the first to reach the club house.

It was raining that day, so a little disappointed that we cant walk over to the yacht.


Well opposite is the expensive condo on the island...


Wendy in her 2nd trimester


Well the host prepared alot of these balloons for kids...and to be frank, i think they are rich yet generous...(unlike my rich relatives who behaved stingy)...


Well, we cant agree more that Joanna seems to be the luckiest lady in our whole Poly class....




Ethan refused to smile...but he really love photo taking session...

Busy day, Busy week

Its really on days like this that you feel like carrying nothing but your camera and travel alone to some peacefully quiet place...

How i wish i can lug on my seagull TLR and a few rolls of film and walk a chilling street in europe...

Guess i got to endure for a few months before the peak passes....and hopefully it yield my expected returns..

I'm Back

After a straight 2 weeks of ICT and a 7 days Myanmar tour, im finally back in comfort. Nowhere is like home and i seriously miss my home for the first time.
 This trip was a little tiring for me. We flew a total of 7 times during this short trip and ended the last one with a 6hrs transit at KLCC. However, i must say that Myanmar is a nice country to travel to.
With a little resemblance of Vietnam and Indonesia, this country has one of the kindest people that i have ever met.
The first impression came from the country's airport. Given that its a Communist country, the perception of arriving at the immigration would be a negative one. However, i was impressed with the reception of the immigration officer. They were much friendlier than those i met at KLCC.
 It could be due to its religion, Buddhism, most of the people there are helpful and kind. I was also glad that i met Chan there which was one of my worries as our money was with her. She played a great host by settling us well in our day 1.

Yangon was bustling with activities, the traffic was quite bad. We didnt stay too long at Yangon before departing for Bagan where the Stupors were.
We felt like indiana Jones in Bagan, everywhere is stupors.

The highlight of this trip i would say is Inle Lake at Heho. Its one of the most amazing place that i have traveled to for this trip. I was never tired of the boat ride and the scenic views of the lake. Despite taking alot of the lake shots, i still cannot resist shuttering off my precious negative each time i travel on the lake.
Im still trying to recover from this trip and spending a little time to develop and sort out the pictures.

You may wish to follow my photo blog for the pictures!

Myanmar, Here i come!

Well an ending always mark a new beginning and like all my trips, its a culture to always do a pre trip entry.

So this round, im going to visit Myanmar. Its purely coincident that this trip was made happened one day after my ICT. We booked the air tickets 1 year ago during Air Asia promo fares. While i thought it would clash with my ICT, i was super lucky!

Well, it all started during my trip with Holly at Sapa where we talked about organising a trip to Myanmar by ourselves. And so it just happened.
Before i start whining about how bad the flight timing was, i think i should just move on and talk about other trips. Its a 7 Days 6 nights trip but if you calculate the amount of time we have in Myanmar, its basically just 5 days 6 nights...okay i still whined.

So this trip, we will be visiting the following places, Yangon, Bagan, Heho Inle Lake. Well given 2 days each place, we should be able to cover some of the highlights here. Well, at least we agree to go slow and at a relaxing pace for these places. Both of us are rather busy so we will only plan our visits along the way...with a Lonely planet!

Here's what im going to bring. All films and no DSLR!
Finally after so long, i have decided to do a trip with Films! Well thou i did it before in Penang...






Cant believed that this setup would weigh me a 5kg bag! I hope i do well and bring back some nice pics!
So the next time that you will see my entry should be upon my returns from Myanmar!~
Ciaos!

My 6th ICT

My first super long ICT has finally come to an end. This year, although its a pre FATEP exercise, it wasnt as tough as i thought it will be. Surprisingly, we cleared the evaluation easily. 

I guess all these happened with a great teamwork. The morale was super high during our practice and everyone put in lotsa efforts.

I enjoyed the out field session where everyone had so much fun. 

So this prove that when everyone started heading towards an objective, things just get more interesting. 

Next year, the same bunch of fellas will be meeting in Thailand for our FATEP exercise! I guess the 13 days spend there should be even more fun! Looking forward to it.

PS, Of cos i hope my bosses would do fine with my absence. 

Serving the nation

Finally with the completion of my COPA testing in SAP, i can probably leave for my in-camp training with a little peace.

This year the exercise seems to be slightly more tedious than the previous in preparation for FATAP next year.
And while packing my stuff, it seems like i am almost clearing my 10 years cycle of reservist.
Hopefully the whole thing will end sooner so that i will not need to clear my IPPT anymore...

Feeling Important

I was a little taken a back recently by a friend's comment that she felt that she wasnt an important friend of mine. The reason was probably because i didnt attend her ROM and fail to fulfill my promise to arrive early to help take some pictures and that my "Hongbao" wasnt as expected.

I guess at times, life isnt really about what you expect. While reciprocity is appreciated, it doesnt mean anything at all if its just for the sake of complying.

I went thru a similar situation in my most dejected times and i realised that sometimes life isnt just what you think it will be or what you want it to be...

I wish to apologies to her if there is any expectation but i seriously feel that friendship shldnt be measured over such things..it creates unnecessary stress for everyone..

The Making of a Photographer

Today i went for a blogshop photoshop for XY and friends and when im home, i was greeted by my cute little nephew.
So i thought, why not take some pics of him as well...
And since i didnt managed to get enough shots for my TLR series, i passed him my camera trusting that he will not drop it and quickly took some pictures of him...


The right way of viewing!


Okay i got a little uneasy and changed a compact camera for him...and still he handled it perfectly!


Now he looks like a journalism photographer




The guy behind the camera!


Carry on shooting!


I think he likes taking pictures..probably another 10 years, he could have join me for my photo trips!

My 1st Duty Travel to East Malaysia

It was a rather short trip but filled with busy schedules. We were invited by United Airlines to their sales conference at East Malaysia and we attended 2 conference within 2 days. The first place that we went was at Kota Kinabalu.

I didnt really have a chance to cover the place but just the area beside the hotel seems rather interesting. We had our lunch in a Japanese restaurant inside the hotel...

There is a market that looks like Chatuchak in Bangkok but it was a little far to reach from the airport. I spend most of my time at the jetty area behind the hotel.

 I felt as thou i was back to Gurney beach...

KK is rather nice with sea and mountain in view at most places. There are some old cultural rich kelong style of kampong that we saw along our way to the airport. Its definitely quite interesting to venture even if you are not planning any hiking or trekking activities.

We flew off at 7pm to Kuching that night so that we can catch the next morning conference at 9am...
Unfortunately, I didnt really have time to check out anywhere in Kuching...but from what i see along the way to the airport, it felt like Penang George town. The cultural rich malay village as well as lots of old temples.

The comforting part, the hotel room is nice!


A picture i took of the Sarawak River behind my Hotel...the only picture that i managed to take in Kuching.


Overall, this trip is quite an exposure to me. I have never thought that Changi would be such a success to the agency and airlines...and i felt proud to be part of this organisation.