Kawaii kame

Ah what a busy weekend but what a good weekend. I've been really busy at work and this busy period is set to continue for a while. After a horrid week at work, where i was so tired and frustrated that i was snapping at everyone, i was not exactly looking forward to what i knew would be a busy weekend. But in the end even though i was busy with japanese homework, attending a housewarning, entertaining my niece and meeting up with relatives visiting from taiwan, it turned out to be a fun weekend and i think i really needed this. I slept in, ate crab and had lots of good friend and family time. Life is good. :-)

Lower Seletar Resevoir

I'm back with my bike at the idyllic and tranquil Lower Seletar Resevoir. It's been a busy week and the morning cycle felt good. It's also really nice out today. A perfect day for relaxing by the resevoir. :-)

A swimmingly good time...

The weather is currently rather gloomy and it's raining. I'm a little troubled by it. :-) i hate carrying umbrellas, so i don't. But that becomes a problem on a day like this. Unfortunately, there is barely any shelter from the MRT station to my office and also no bus after peak hour. So everytime it rains i have to try and figure out a way to get to the office without getting too wet. But still i persist in not carrying an umbrella in unpredictable, tropical Singapore. :-) it's not that i don't like getting wet. I actually like getting wet. I love hot showers and cool swims in the pool. Today the pool near my home opened at 7 for a two month long trial and i was there for my 40 laps. I would love to go singing in the rain and still have fond memories of jumping into puddles and setting paper boats afloat and getting totally soaked in the seasonal monsoon rains in my childhood days. Sometimes it sucks being an adult. You have to work and you're not allowed to show up dripping all over the floor. :-( so while i should carry an umbrella and get rid of my silly dilemma everytime it rains, i still refuse to. I protest against the practicalities of being a big person besides umbrellas are heavy and cumbersome and i'm lazy. :-)

Sashimi

Gosh i'm kinda hungry now but am currently sitting glumly on the 858 and thinking of the scrumptous meal we had a ikoi two sunday's ago. Ikoi at the Miramar Hotel is quite well known among us foodies in Singapore. It's an inexpensive japanese buffet ala carte and it offers a selection of sashimi, tempura and various other types of japanese cuisine that are popular in Singapore. It's perhaps not the best quality but for if i remember correctly the price tag is only sgd33 (need to check). That's a really good price for the quality and variety that they offer. It's lots better that horrid Sakura buffet and also better than Kushinbo which is also better than horrid Sakura. :-) One of my friends who moved to the States with her husband was back for a visit. So a bunch of us when to ikoi to celebrate her birthday and most importantly, stuff our faces. :-) k. That's it from me, if i talk anymore about food, i might just faint. :-) ja atode.

Hey you...

Hey hey sunsetrose... as promised... just for you... :-) erica and i are cheering for you. :-)

Eastern Europe - a tease

Okay, I know I said I wanted to complete the mobile blog section of my E.Eur trip but unfortunately, I got caught up with a ton of things and work hasn't really let up either.

I begin new Japanese classes this week =) and I'm also back to playing games on my NDS again. This time it is Professor Layton who's been sucking up my sleep time on the bus to work. =) Final Fantasy Tactics A2 also got released this week, so I think that may begin to consume some of my time. Although, I may not get it and get hooked on Apollo Justice (thank you again for the gift S) or Touch Detective 2 1/2 which I have but haven't had time to play. And apart from all that and trying to have a life, I'm back to watching TVB again... arrrrggghhh... need fewer obsessions. =)

Anyway, here is a photo from the top of the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. It's one of those panoramic shots which were stitched together in Photoshop CS3. I've several more and would like to put them on the blog too when I get a chance.

This little tease is for those of you who have been bugging me about those photos. =)

enjoy

Southern Ridges - panorama

Recently I bought a new DSLR. Yes, another camera to my collection. =) This time I picked up the Olympus E-510. It's the Great Singapore Sale right now and the camera came at a very good price. The camera, including 2 kit lens, cost me SGD1098 (or there abouts) which is a really good deal and it is one of the biggest reasons why I bought it. There are other reasons, of course, but I won't go into them now.

I took this camera to test and to try and familiarize myself with it during my recent trip to the Southern Ridges Park Connector. I'm still horribly unfamiliar with all the functions and will definitely have to take it out more often.

Anyway, last year, because of work, I plunked down a fair bit of money to buy the Adobe CS3 Production Suite and one of the pieces of software that come with the bundle is Adobe Photoshop CS3. I've only really used it for relatively simple stuff and only just discovered this really cool feature. Photoshop CS3 has a fantastic photo stitching function. It's the best I've ever used to date. Very quick, rather accurate and quite, quite seamless.

I didn't shoot too many images for the expressed purpose of making panoramas as I was too busy trying to figure out the camera but I did shoot a series of shots to try and capture the view of Singapore from Mount Faber Loop, just before you get to the entry into Henderson Wave.

Hope you like the view. =)