Yanting 生日快乐!

Wonderful ambience, Wonderful company, Wonderful night.

We're so happy that our pal, Yanting, enjoyed her Wonderful birthday!

The Adventures of Roller Girls!

One fine day, the Roller Girls (Xiaomin and Shufen) received a mission to hunt down a menace in the East Coast...


"My sidekick is so slow!"


They spotted the 'Stalker' with their super 'V'ision (corny...yes...I know)!


The Roller Girls protected themselves with 'fried fish' barricades and set the 'dragon bun' traps to eliminate their threats.


Reporting to their HQ through "rum&raisin/water-melon/durian microphones" on a mission well accomplished!

Bunny Suicides by Andy Riley

I bought a box of postcard collection of these at Times Bookshop today. They are freaking cool!

Gallery (Work-in-progress)

Well... actually it's a bunch of photos, posters and other stuff that I have framed up but too lazy to mount on the wall. I wanted to construct some sort of gallery at home to exhibit my photos and the 'art pieces' I've collected. This will be one of my 'must-complete' project for this year.

But you have to admit, there's also a rather unique and 'funky' feel to leaving them lying around like this...

:)

F31fd Review

These photos were taken by my new Fuji Finepix F31fd. I had always wanted (and had waited a long time) for a good compact digital camera to come along so that I dun have to lug my DSLR around. And from what I had seen so far... literally 'delicious'!

These photos were taken at night under low light conditions and at high ISOs! I had cropped and enhanced them just a little bit for aesthetic reasons but they are not very far from the originals. The F30 and F31 are well-known for their capabilities (noise management) under low light conditions (high ISOs) and it is quite justified. Mine you... the photo of Noah and Shufen (the couple in the photo) and of the tofu were taken at ISO1600 without any flash at all! The photo of the chicken was taken at ISO400.

Start up was relatively quick. The feel, controls and menus were intuitively simple and friendly to use. The 'face detection' (fd) function was helpful but not essential if you know how to focus. Focusing was also sharp at macro mode. The metering worked marvelously well and the flash was not harsh. Hardly any shutter lag. The 'chrome' colours were vivid and the LCD was big and bright too.

It really is a bang (huge one) for bucks and I can even say it gives some of the reputable DSLRs in the market a run for their money. I think it would be exciting to find out what more this baby could do.

to talk without thinking...

is like shooting without aiming...

First World Country. Third World Culture.

This is a topic I had wanted to post sometime back but I couldn't think of a suitable approach for it. That was until I took public transport (in a long time) to Orchard for my dental appointment yesterday (too expensive to drive and park in Orchard lah).

Singapore has continuously strive to "upgrade" herself as a First World Country in terms of her infrastructures, amenities, the arts, tourism (casinos and F1 races), hospitality (for example, the recent "GEMS" or "Go-the-Extra-Mile for Service" movement), etc. The Singapore Government has also recently announced that the island-city would be targeting to increase her population from the present 4.5 million to 6.5 million in future in order to remain economically sound.

However, as we continue to improve and impress with our "hardware", it left me wondering how is the general population progressing in terms of her "heartware". And as we gear towards 6.5 million in the future, how are we going to cope with the crowd on 700 sq km of land?

Which brings me to my experience on the public transport.

I have long heard of the new and improved buses and MRTs that we had supposedly paid for with the hike in public transport fares (some are wheelchair friendly too). And I was fortunate enough to experience them yesterday. The buses were new and bright. The MRTs appeared clean and seats seemed to be more spacious too. The stations were also more "user-friendly" for the handicapped. It would seem that the authorities are doing a good job and they should be applauded. However... I can't say the same for Singaporeans.

Although we have bigger, better and more beautiful infrastructures, it would appear that the behaviour of the general population has not progressed much since the yesteryears. People are still not moving to the back of buses or towards the center of the MRT cabins without pleas from drivers or fellow passengers. People remain oblivious (or asleep) to the needy who could use a seat. People are still pushing, shoving and cutting in lines to board escalators. People are still smoking at bus stops and throwing cigarette butts all over the place.

This is just an example from the many we see from time to time to infer my point on how Singapore could attain First World Status but left with much room for improvement to move her people together. And it is a worrying sight. Are we taking things for granted? Are we frogs in a well (a crowded one that is)? Of course, to be optimistic, not every Singaporean is like that (I hope I am not one) and Singapore is not the ugliest city and such cultures are not uncommon in other developed nations too. But as we become more diversified and more congested, I could not help but wonder what future holds for Singapore with a population of 6.5 million.

SIFF

Here are the films I'll be catching at the upcoming Singapore International Film Festival.

Films under the "Silver Screen Awards":
1. Ad Lib Night
2. Like a Virgin

Films under the "Asian Cinema":
3. M

Films under the "World Cinema":
4. Prague
5. The Boss of It All

Films under the "Asian Animation":
6. Aachi and Ssipak
7. Little Heart Songs

Only seven films. I caught nine last year.