First off, TOTALLY sorry for missing Nit's BBQ on saturday.... I guess last week has been a bitch for me, and if its of any consolation, screwing up the meeting with you guys was not the only thing ... like on Sat morning, my frend sent me this sms "So I'll meet you at 1230pm at Anchorpoint", that was at 1135am lar, amidst my slumber, I managed to reply "Ok!". The next time I regained consciousness, it was already 12.47pm....... the rest you know lar..

Yesterday was a SUPER DUPER day for meself. Woke up at 8.30am and went to cafe at about 1030 for the freaking stock take bullcrap... ... Cause the convenience store under Caffe Cypress 101 is being handed back to us, we had to take back all the stocks and mend up the store. From today onwards, I'm officially the storekeep for the convenience store, which is like TOTALLY boring cause I just sit there all day and wait for people to buy my goods.

In the evening however, I was the OFFICIAL photographer for NUS Talent Quest 2008 ! (ok, official assistant photographer). But it sure feels good to have the front row to the team and access to anywhere in the SPoly Auditorium where the event was held. And let me tell you.. event photography IS NOT FUNNY. Anyway, the Canon EX external mounted flash has just been bumped to the top of my priority list. The 100mm will have to wait for a year or 2 I guess... (and I found a cheaper alternative to the 100mm like 1/6 cheaper alternative cause its about 100 below 200bux compared to the 800bux lense. That is, extension tubes ! ) but again, the EX flash comes first.... Was using the onboard flash on my 400D and the damn thing kept charging up. The flash would shoot once then there would be this beep tone which meant it was charging. And it took like 5 or so seconds per charge. And let me tell you, that is nightmarish for events, cause performances don't wait 5+ seconds for your flash to charge up... Anyway, the day went great I guess, now its up for the editing of 400+ photos (in which the LOOOOOng overdue chips photos will be done as well) for submittion by Friday !

I have been trying to discover myself these week (waaaaaahhhhhh round of applause....)

I THINK I have a few flaws..

1. I'm impatient (not till you know me well will you see my impatient'ness)

2. I have commitment issues (cause I like to play it safe mostly. But if i say I will meet you, I most likely will unless something cropped up which is more impt. than YOU) Ofcourse, one issue on the commitment issue part is that I am forgetful, so I do forget our plans sometimes... ... and end up committing to a plan above our plan....

3. I am not a real good liar (but consider this carefully, maybe I'm lying to you now, making you lower your guard against me so that I can lie to you later :D hehe which means the opposite. Don't take every word at word value)

4. I do not have REAL life goals (i mean, up until now, my life goal SERIOUSLY was to study hard, get a good paying job, support my family, better still if my wife can choose whether or not to work. You know, that typical cliche AMERICAN DREAM kinda thing) But then, is that REALLY my real life goal??? I think most guys have that intention? But importantly, when someone actually asked me if that was my driving force behind what I do, i could not look at the person with a straight face and say a simple " YES". . . I guess we are all selfish people, and perhaps my life goal was too presumptious (that i will have a wife and kids, and therefore now i am working solely for someone/ people that may never materialise?) [parents is not counted.. tts like basic manners/ filial piety. And at the rate their going versus my studies, I may embarrassingly need them to look after me....]
Perhaps I just need more serious/ visionable goals like make my million by which age, or get my MRS manual drive by which age (WITHOUT help from dad).

5. I need closure (if you want to attack me on this, its real simple). I may act all cool and shit, but it destroys me inside when something doesn't go well and is left hanging [particularly with regards to social interactions, bgr, frendship, work, family etc.] I just can't sleep properly if I care about something/someone and I do not know the next step/ feeling to expect when I next meet/ approach the situation. It really tears me up sometimes ... (this is when my don't give a fuck attitude can be removed from studies and applied here)

6. I can be rather selfish (to a point that if I can't have something, noone else must have it), depending on what is at stakes (than again, this is not a valid weakness, cause anyone, depending on what is at stakes can be as selfish as i am, selfishness is relative...)

7. I have always been PROMPT for meetings or going 15mins earlier (thnx to the valuable lesson from Miss Yip Yuan Cum). But of late, from influence from SOMEONE and some other people from school... that habit is beginning to die down... AND BY GAWD I HATE it when people are late and do not notify me. Really, I may like relac one corner, but it affects my view on you badly [but then if its a constant thing... I guess i'm used to it].

If there is one thing I learnt in China, which I guess was one of the BEST lessons, is that "nice guys finish last" (sometimes you need to experience it for yourself before you believe it *winks*)

LAST but not least, i am still processing the CHIPS photos so paiseh, my daytime job... leaves me little time (AFTER I've had my dinner, movie games etc.) to do photography.... will do it ASAP. It's a pretty big file cause I shot it on RAW, so it will take effort and monotonous work to compress all the photos :P

Today, I went for a jog around Chinese Gardens.

AFTER that, I had a bath at kiwis place and conveniently situated in the toilet was an electrical weighing scale..

CHONG MAR!!! I gained 5kgs since working at Cypress 101 in like 4 weeks ?!

Ken Ken HONTONI had one to many :
Cheesecake
Blueberry Pie
Mussel Spaghetti
Hot Chocolate
Puff Pastry
Ice Cream
Ice Cream Brownie
Ice Cream Milk Shake
Set Lunch ...
... and the list goes on ...
Our chef John, who I thought was my friend cause he every lunch time " eh boss wad u wanna eat I cook for you" ..... and I have been more than accomodating to his requests to practice his culinary skills for me ... :P

Starting to train for NS now, hope to have a more relac one corner life when I go in :)

There are yet MORE things that can't go wrong.. amidst the many things that went wrong this week... Talent Quest was SOMEWHAT a success I guess.... all but ONE of the contestants came to be photographed for the brochure. Bel really has what people in my line call "THE EYE". The creative aspects, position, framing of shots etc. are good. Then the creative execution was done by Ken, which is no less important too. Learnt a thing or two about lighting and positioning of the flash. But enough of that, I shall go on to the CGW's. Today, I had the HONOUR of trying out the Canon 100mm f2.8 MACRO.
Its not just a macro lens, but it can be considered as a 100mm prime(prime meaning it has no zoom function/range function i.e is stuck at 100mm) telephoto too.

My wrist watch at close range ! Now you know why I said can't go wrong...


The plant at Istana Park.
Same plant.
.... same model...Note the smooth "bokeh" or the smooth blurred background. (nvm if you do not get this.)
Clouds at The Cathay.

tree bark with the 100mm.. my hands were shaking.

The rest were random shots along the way, practicing my explosion effects.
AND ofcourse, ken ken's post/ day wouldn't be complete without food shots :D SEX dinner at Vivocity..
Don't ask what name ar, just feast your eyes haha :P Imagine these pics on the 100mm macro !!!

Life is full of randomness and variables, but somethings, just - CAN'T GO WRONG.Below are some of many CGW (can't go wrongs).

Uncle Ken called today, like AFTER me and dad finished dinner, asking us if we wanted Mee Pok... guess you can tell what our answer was ! One of the good things about this frend of my dad's - He likes to AND can eat. Worse about him is that despite his eating habits, he is not fat..... like damn unfair please...

Katong Laksa! Also can't go wrong. According to Peanut, the real Katong laksa is a tonne better than this one we had at Ho Lang Vee.... One thing one notices about Katong Laksa, or its trademarks (from all the Katong Laksa's I've eaten), is that the noodles have been cut up, negating the need for a pair of 筷子！Ofcourse, on this occasion, "kay hum" or "add cockles" was the SOP.

My first hand made Pizza. Contains prawns, zuchinni, pineapple, ham, shitake mushrooms and italian sausage !

Ingredients courtesy of Caffe Cypress 101 ! So working at a cafe as the boss's son does have its benefits.

We have like a china woman working there, and by all the gawds... she really taints china's image... always arrow people. Like when she breaks a dish (her job is dish washing) she will not admit until caught red handed. That day she arrowed me. My prime task is to make her remaining days in Caffe Cypress 101 a living hell.

Random shot of the SONY display sign. NO photoshop done. Just manipulation of the camera lens during picture taking :D

The Leap years is about a young Singaporean girl who unexpectedly meets her dream man on a special day - 29 February 1988 - when a quaint old Leap Year custom allows women to make the first move in a romantic encounter. Our heroine does precisely that.

Hereafter she and the dream man, both exceptionally attractive and brimming with life's hopes and dreams, are caught in a dizzying spin of events that Fate seems to like visiting upon young lovers. "You will come together at last. But not yet, not yet," says Fate mischievously.

The lovers meet every 29 February over 12 years, in breathless negotiations of the many pitfalls along the path of true love which has never run smooth anyway, before their hopes are finally fulfilled in a spectacular millennial culmination worthy of love's loftiest dreams.

omg.. so emo ... hahas

I went to IT Show 2008 :D

Been working at mums cafe now, I went for med check on Monday, and now I am in PES B L1, which makes me damn pissed off cause it could have been A but cause of assmar problem I was put into B :( Many people call me "siao" or crazy etc., but I will try to enter Singapore's decisive force with this view "since I am already forced to go in, must as well make full use of it and come out hot :P One thing I should be grateful for I guess, is that I did not have to make the 15week or 29week BMT, but rather just the extra 4 weeks (fail Napfa) + standard 9week BMT.

Thanks to SHui for lending a hand at mums cafe for a day, it be great to see you around again :)
And also, to peanut who put things in a different light. I was actually still pissed off when I first started work on tuesday, and my black face did not hide it. But when actual crunch time came, I was happy and helpful.

Also, being with my jie for the short period of time actually thought me some life lessons. I really regretted not leanring them earlier, like in JC and sorts, there were actually people who were very nice to me at that time, and I really refused to open up to any but one of them. Actually lost a potentially good friend or 2. I just hope I do not commit the same mistake for Poly. for all my friends out there, I thankyou for all that you have given me ( may sound abit gay lar, but I just felt that you all, particularly some of you, deserve more attention than I have been giving to you).