Drew's world

Panasonic Lumix GF1 Tips

2010-07-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

More of a reminder to myself rather than a blog, might be useful to other GF1 owners as well:

Settings

Aspect Ratio - set to 4:3 as it retains the most pixels (the aspect ratio of the GF1 sensor is 4:3), other modes e.g. 3:2 and 16:9 crop pixels.

Auto ISO - set to max ISO800 or in a pinch ISO1600 (really pushing the boundaries)

AF Mode - call it habit or whatever, I tend to use the GF1 in single AF mode (the rectangle with a large black square). The most predictable mode in terms of locking on a subject.

Film Mode - typically have this set to DYNAMIC for both colour and also B&W as a personal preference.

Mode Dial - primarily use the A mode (aperture priority). Flick the thumbwheel right and left to set the aperture to control depth of field.

Shoot w/o Lens - as I sometimes use Nikon lenses on the GF1 (with an adapter), set to ON.

Video - since I only have the 20mm lens right now, I have CONTINUOUS AF set as OFF and if I want to AF, I would set the AF target and half press the shutter release button. As most users of the GF1 would know, you can activate video recording using the "motion picture button" or using the "Motion Picture P mode". I would recommend the latter method most of the time as you would have full control of aperture and exposure compensation. Preferred focussing mode is MF.

Others

Carrying the GF1 - my personal preference is to use a wrist strap vs a shoulder strap for the GF1 and treat the camera more like a large point and shoot (since it doesnt have a builtin viewfinder anyway), makes the grip that much more secure.

GF1 Grip - I dont have large hands but the GF1 grip seems small and slippery for me - what I did was to gaffer most of the grippable areas of the camera to enhance the grip. About a 8inch roll of gaffer table should suffice. I cant understand pp who pay good money for ready made "leatherette" stickers when good ol gaffer tape would do..

GF1 Flash - I didnt want to buy too many accessories for the GF1, therefore I reused my Nikon flashes for the camera e.g. if you decide to use flash using a SB-22s, just set to M mode on the GF1 and use the setting of 1/125 and an aperture of f.6 and set the flash accordingly. Works for me. One tip if you use the onboard flash - set the ISO a bit higher e.g. ISO 400-800 to boost the flash range.

GF1 Bag - The GF1 with a 20mm is small enough and light enough (442g) that it fits in a small backpack or a ladies handbag without any problems. I think if you want a dedicated bag for just the GF1 and the 20mm, a Lowepro Apex 60AW would be a good choice. Due to the fact that I cant find this bag around in stores, I decided to use an old Hedgren shoulder bag that I had lying around. Slightly padded and very non-descript. You get the picture.

Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home camera bag

2010-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Not a good month for me, so decided to engage in some retail therapy and get a replacement for my old Lowepro Stealth Reporter 200AW.

Crumpler had recently updated their range of bags to incorporate what they call a "silencer" which fixed one of my pet peeves - the sound of velcro riiipping when I opened their bags (one of the reasons why I sold off my Budgie Smuggler years back. The silencer design uses a piece of ballistic nylon to cover the velcro when moments of silence are required.. e.g. when you are sneaking in the forest to take a shot of a bird and need to pull out your camera.

After much agonizing about whether to get the smaller 5 Million Dollar bag or the larger 6 Million, I decided to get the Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home bag since it came with a shoulder pad AND it allowed me to fit in a netbook if I chose to to. In terms of color, I was deliberating between the dark brown bag or the black one.. in the end I went with black as I thought the cool green inserts looked better than the traditional Crumpler powder blue.

So, what are my thoughts about the bag.. well, nothing bad to say actually. It allows me to carry the two main configurations that I use - the street shooter/travelling configuration of a DSLR body and a small prime plus a wide angle on the side and a small tabletop tripod and flash in the other pouch or the birder configuration of a DSLR body and my 80-400mm lens. In my opinion, it is too large for rangefinder style micro 4/3s cameras like the Panasonic GF1 and the Oly EP series - the 4 or 5 million dollar home would be better bets. However, it is a pretty good fit for a GH1 with a couple of lenses.

The padding is adequate, and typical of many other good camera bags out there, there are many handy pockets to store a small notepad and memory cards. It is missing some features I like on my SR200 - namely, the belt loop, tripod straps and the waterproof cover - I have to say so that I have never used any of these features on my SR200. Practicality, however, isnt the reason why people buy Crumplers, there are other bags out in the market that have more fetaures, have better weatherproofing, better strap.... people buy Crumpler bags because of the coolness factor and I think that this bag looks way cooler than my old Lowepro...

Burmese food at Peninsula Plaza

2010-01-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

Since my 2 cube mates in the office are Burmese, we often make a trip to the Burmese food capital of Singapore, namely, Peninsula Plaza once in a while during lunch. One of my favorite foods is Shan noodles. Apparently, the Shan people stay near the border of Myanmar and Vietnam so the noodles taste similar to dry Vietnamese rice noodles. The major difference as far as I can tell is the type of fish sauce that is used and the fact that Shan noodles don't taste as bland. Worthy of a try next time you are in the area.

Nokia N82

2008-11-11T05:04:00.000-08:00

Been using this phone for the past 5 months. Tough tough time to get used to it after using a Sony Ericsson for so long. For the longest time, I couldnt get to grips to locking the keypad, why can't these phone manufacturers standardize these keystrokes?

Anyway, the phone is a cracker in some areas - the camera especially is most possibly the best in the market now and the browser is really good for browsing and reading web feeds - and a dud in some areas - the keypad is really uncomfortable to use due to the narrow keys and the GPS takes ages to acquire a satellite signal.

When I bought the phone, the initial plan was to use it for a while and switch to something else quickly. But from the looks of it, this phone is a keeper. Its not a perfect package by all means but it does the job of a phone well and with the camera being as good as it is, I can use it as my everyday camera.

Sony Ericsson phone video taking capabilities

2008-04-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

The ability for my phone to take good videos is important to me since I am not one to lug around a huge videocam. Good enough for me is AT LEAST QVGA resolution although this is pretty archaeic compared to the megapixel war manufacturers are fighting. My fav phone brand - Sony Ericsson seems to be embarrassed about their phone video recording capabilities. From the website, there are no specs to indicate the resolution or FPS video specs for their phones. Compared to Nokia, which has a rash of VGA capable phones (N93, 95 etc), SE is really far behind.

I have compiled a selected list of phones (current and future as of April 2008) and their video recording specs. Please help me with your comments if I make a few mistakes here or if I have left your phone out..

QCIF (quarter CIF - 176x144, a truly pathetic resolution that can only record stamp sized videoclips)
- K800i/K810i
- K750i
- most other phones not listed otherwise

QVGA (320x240)
- K850i
- K660i
- W890i
- W910i
- P1i
- C902
- C702

VGA (640x480)
- Xperia X1

Life with a Honda Civic

2008-02-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

The first drive back home with this car was ok. Salesman gave the usual walkthru at Kah Motors Ubi, I got into the car and made the long drive back to the west. Car felt good.

But little by little, the bumpy suspension, squeaky brakes, misaligned steering, "clacking" windshield wiper rubber, windows which got stuck while winding up and the pong whenever the AC starts up in the morning started to get to me. All within the first month of ownership.

I have always wanted a Honda Civic way back in the late eighties when I drove a friends fourth gen hatch. The rear opening window was a great idea and the nice ride and great 1.6L engine (this was before VTEC) was smooth and zippy.

Unfortunately, this 8th gen Civic gave me all sorts of niggling reasons to get rid of it.

5 months on, the suspension has softened and I am getting quite fond of the smooth and powerful engine. But I have a sneaking feeling I will get rid of this car before long. VW Passat seems a logical choice. VW GTI still calling for me...

Naim and B&W

2008-01-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

Naim 5i/CD5i + B&W 705s on Target stands (lead filled). Using standard Naim interconnects with 3m NACA5. "Rack" is an Ikea filing cabinet :p.

Been living for this set for more than 2 yrs now. Dunno if its my ears but its sounding tired to me. Maybe its just "hifi-degradation" - your own set will always stagnate in terms of the absolute sound experience while your mate's (or dealer's) set will nearly ALWAYS sound better or just plain different. I had some initial reservations about the bass from the 705s, but after loosening up, the bass is alright with a sweet mid-range. However I have been hoping for floorstanders for some time for a really powerful sound. I find that this combo sounds best on instruments and on faster pieces of music.

Hope the new place will have space for me to space out the speakers more - to about 6ft apart. It would be great to get a real cabinet and move the equipment to one side also with a carpet in the middle, should help with the sound somewhat. What I really want though is this - Chords with 800 series B&W...

2008 Mazda 3 mini-review

2008-01-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

We did a test drive of the 2008 Mazda 3 the other day. I cannot think of a better choice for someone looking for a keen drive that costs less than SGD60k, and yet is practical for people-carrying. A good suspension setup, fine steering and ok looks both in and out round out the plus points for this car. Good enough boot space and cubby holes as well. Other specs - 0-100kmh is 11.5s, fuel consumption is around 12km/l with the provided 16in wheels.

The only weak link was the slightly anaemic 1.6L engine, however, the saving grace was that the engine was smoother, and not as weak and raucous compared to the Ford Focus. Also, the car isn't exactly a looker as well, the bodykit makes the design look busier than it should and it looses out to more organic designs like the Honda Civic but then, it is nearly 20k less than the Civic and therefore makes good economic sense.

Best color for the car: Black or the Dark Grey.

2007 BMW 320i mini review

2008-01-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

In between Harry's classes, I typically have 1.5 hours to burn. I usually waste time window shopping during the short amount of time to myself but last Sat, I stepped into Performance Motors to test out the BMW 320i since I knew they had an Singapore Air Show edition selling for SGD127k apparently sans Xenons and Cruise control. The "regular" 320i costs SGD134k.

Performance Motors sales people are among the most unwelcoming around. They typically loiter around the main door, sizing up each person who enters - and probably wondering - does this bugger have the money to afford a BMW? After spending a good 20min in the showroom, mainly stepping in and out of every BMW model, someone finally approached me and a sales person was assigned to me - a man with grey hair.

The test car was a light green 320i. Initially step off was weak and the steering felt oh-so strange after 3 yrs with a Jap car. The steering is missing the accuracy and fluency of the old 3-series I reckon. The engine - supposedly a more powerful version of the old Valvetronic model wasnt too impressive as well - where was the damn power?, I felt. All the time, I was wondering.. what the heck is BMW doing? The interior was so-so, the exterior styling is weak (especially the rump area) and the stereo is still the same underperforming one. Bottomline - I dont think any BMW with a 4-cyl is worth buying. In fact, I would only truly lust over the Z4 coupe. However, my sis's 523i was a much more involving drive compared to this 3-series. How the mighty have fallen.

Best color for the car: Graphite. Nobody does metallic grey better than BMW.

Vietnamese Noodles at NUS Arts canteen

2008-01-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

These are some great dry Vietnamese Beef noodles at $2.50 only. The fish stock tastes great with the coarse noodles being "al dente" and the beef is nicely BBQed. The whole dish is topped with mint leaves, bean sprouts, fried red onions and chopped peanuts. Much tastier than the version at Pho-something place at Holland Village. The Saigon style rolls behind arent too bad as well at only $1.50, an absolute steal with the free soup if you ask me.

2008 Nikon Lens Setup

2008-01-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Right now, my lens collection (situation?) looks like this:

AF Primes >>>>>
24/f2.8D
50/f1.8D
85/f1.8D
105/f2.8D

AF Zooms >>>>>
12-24/f4G DX
20-35/f2.8D
18-70/f3.5-4.5G DX
24-120/f4-5.6G VR
70-210/f4-5.6D
80-400/f4.5-5.6D VR

MF lenses >>>>>
35/f2.8
50/f1.8
100/f2.8
75-150/f3.5

My most used lenses are the 18-70mm on my D70 and the 50mm coming in a close second. For occasions, I usually pick either the 12-24mm or the 24-120mm but not both. For travel, I usually bring these two lenses or if I am really travelling light, just the 18-70mm. On occasion, I have brought both my F100 and D70 on a trip, in these cases, I will mount the 24-120 on the F100 and the 12-24 on the D70 however the 12-24 will still work with the F100 from 18mm onwards. I have only brought the 70-210mm on a trip once and even then hardly used it. My 80-400mm is my "zoo" and birding lens and the 105mm is my product shot lens. Which leaves me with the 24mm, 50mm and the 85mm. These primes are light, portable and fast and I use them when I want to test my creativity in shots and also indoors.

My MF kit - I ran out of film in March after Europe so I havent been shooting much, however, I tend to use the FEs more than the F3 for some reason, maybe its because of their light weight. My most used lens in the MF kit is probably the 35mm however, the picture quality of the 75-150 leads me to keep that in the bag as well.

I have had these lenses for some time and at no time have I felt that I needed anything more. Of course, I lust for better versions of the lenses I have e.g. 17-35mm f2.8D to replace my 20-35mm, 85mm f1.4D to replace the f1.8 version that I have, 70-200mm f2.8G VR to replace my 70-210mm etc and so on, but my limited shooting just doesnt justify getting better lenses. These are also heavier and I prob will never bring them out for travel etc.

In time, I want to add a small pair of Nikon Monarch 8x42mm binoculars, and I might get a D300 (can reuse CF cards from the D70).

Personal wine tasting notes

2008-01-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

My wife love grapes.

She also loves wine which is good for me since we get to share. 2007 was a good year for us wine-wise, I got to taste some wines which would otherwise be out of reach to me. I havent been a wine drinker for that long to give expert wine opinions to anyone. But I know what I like and wine drinking perferences evolve, these are some of my notes so far of what I had so far:

French Bordeaux red - really complicated. To understand Bordeaux wines, you probably need many many years of tasting and a wine degree. A good start however, would be Wikipedia, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Wine_Official_Classification_of_1855 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_wine. The most important thing to note for French wine is the concept of "terroir", wine tastes different because of the region where the grapes were grown. French wine just tastes different. The most outstanding wine I have tasted so far was Chateau Haut-Brion 2003. Although relatively young and accessible, this wine had it all, it tasted good at the beginning, goes down nicely and had a great ending that persists. At 900 bucks pop, not something you will taste every week. Not a First Growth, but I kind of liked Chateau Lascombes as well. These are wines that should be decanted well and can be enjoyed by themselves, or with good cheeses.

Australian Shiraz - most people in Singapore start with Australian wine for no better reason than it is readily available in supermarkets here and because of its easy drinkability. The most distinctive type of wine produced in Australia is made using the Shiraz grape (better known as Syrah, actually Shiraz is a city in Iran where the name was taken). This wine typically is drunk young - about 2-3 yrs old, and besides classics like Penfold's Grange - tastes better young in my opinion. The wine is typically strong and distinctive in flavor, when I first drunk Shiraz, I thought it tasted "spicier" and drier than Cabernet Savignon. I personally think Shiraz goes well with Asian food, especially stuff like Cantonese food although I have cheese with it occassionally. Some examples of good Shiraz I have tasted - the Penfolds Grange/St Henri, Leewin Estate Art Series. Most of the other labels I have tasted are drinkable but not memorable e.g. Mad Fish, Vasse Felix. Maybe its me but Australian wine alcohol levels are rather high compared to other country's wines, 2 glasses and I feel it a bit more. Best drunk relatively warm at around 20degC.

Argentinian Malbecs - I really like this. The zinginess of this wine is great for drinking with steaks and red meat. So far, I have only tried a $20 bottle from NTUC and also a nicer $60 dollar bottle.

Canadian Ice Wines - I think the wines from Inniskilin use Riesling to make it. Too sweet sometimes but nice after a meal. Nice when served really cold, can taste a bit cloying when warm. Great with my home baked carrot cake.

New Zealand Savignon Blanc - great wine to go with a light meal like a caesar salad on a hot day or seafood - think fish and chips. Serve from the fridge - around 10degC? Have had nice ones from Coopers Creek but nearly all from the Malborough region in NZ are good. Avoid overly expensive ones e.g. from Cloudy Bay unless u can afford it.

Western Australian Rieslings - I have tasted Rieslings from Germany and they werent half as good as the one I tasted from Margaret River especially the ones from Howard Park. Rieslings taste like an in-between wine from Chardonnay and Savignon Blanc and they go nicely with grilled pork chops.

Other notes

----> we typically dont drink much Chardonnay (typically over oaked) or champagne (only a little during special occasions). The bad ones taste something awful.

----> A good wine I tasted recently was Leewin Estate's Cabernet Savignon 1998. Leewin is more well known for their Chardonnay but I really liked this one.

2007 Suzuki Swift mini-review

2007-12-31T22:34:00.000-08:00

We have been on a car hunting spree recently. After heading to the Suzuki showroom at least 2 other times without doing a test drive (Champion Motors staff look very bored and the place is truly dreary!), we finally mustered up the courage to ask for a drive of the Suzuki Swift 1.5A last weekend.

The car itself doesnt look small up close - namely because it is tall but the interior is tiny. The boot especially is really tiny - much smaller than the Honda Jazz and the Golf. I would place the boot to be the same size as the Mini-Cooper - which means really small. Being a family man - things like "can it fit a pram" will concern me and the boot space looks barely able to accomodate. Suzuki provides a 2 level rear boot shelf though, so u COULD probably fit a pram below and groceries above on the shelf.

Dont expect too much in terms of interior build quality - nearly everything is nasty nasty hard plastic. The steering wheel, although ugly, feels pretty good though.

During the test drive, which was strictly via the route (grouchy old sales man really irritated), the car exhibited exceptionally zippy handling. I havent tested the Mini but it sure was close to go-kart handling. Again, the car was let down by the engine. Hardly a bad engine, it was fairly revvy and nice but to be frank, the power wasnt there at all. I would recommend anyone considering the 1.5A to get the 1.6 Sport version instead, however, the pricing of the sport version at 63k is a bit steep. The 1.5A version that we tested went for around 54k (still steep if u ask me, Champion is making more money than it should with their cars, go PI!).

I liked the Swift. It really is, at half the price, the poor man's Mini (the Cooper costs SGD103k). Unfortunately, because of the space it provides, it is great only as a second car for family men.

Best color for the car: White or Blue Graphite.

Singapore Prawn noodles

2007-12-30T17:31:00.001-08:00

Just found a blog that has good prawn mee reviews (http://lovesingaporefood.blogspot.com/search/label/prawn%20noodles).

Not to be confused with fried Hokkien noodles, the typical Singapore Prawn noodle store includes whole prawns (or slices of de-shelled prawns) together with thick yellow noodles in a nice fragrant stock made from prawn shells. They sometimes add pork ribs or pork slices, kang kong and some even include fish cake. This dish typically comes dry or in a soup.

If you want really good tasting soup stock, go at the end of the day when it is the tastiest because the soup has had the longest time to absorb the flavor of the prawn shells.

The stores I typically go to in Singapore for my Prawn noodle fix are:

- Adam Road Noo Kee (best so far, 8/10?, however, some say standards have dropped)
- Zion Road (nearly as good as Adam 7.5/10, branch of the Adam Rd store?)
- Whitley Road Big Prawn Mee (8/10, next to Novena IRAS, still very reliably good)

I have also tried the Prawn noodles in

- Jalan Sultan Prawn mee, near the Kallang MRT station (prawns not always clean, had a royal rash once)
- Beach Road Blanco Court, opposite (just soup not bad)

and they royally SUCK.

Digital Cameras with Rotating LCDs

2007-12-25T18:33:00.001-08:00

In my opinion, rotating LCDs (Canon calls them vari-angle LCDs, other manufacturers call them flip and twist LCDs) are an essential feature for digital cameras. They bring many advantages to the photographer e.g. being able to shoot from high/low angles, take self-portraits, offer some protection for the fragile LCD during travel, reducing the "arms outstretched staring at the LCD look", allowing stealthy photography. To me, a small pocketable digicam with a WA lens and a rotating LCD (ideally with image stabilization or vibration reduction) would make the ideal travel camera. Most of the cameras I owned previously have this important feature - e.g. Canon A610, Olympus c5060.

Which is why I feel it is a shame that camera manufacturers have neglected to include this feature into new releases. Canon, for example, had a large range of cameras with the feature (including the A-series, S-series and the G-series) before pulling the plug on this with current releases e.g. the A710IS, G7/G9. Only the S-series has this feature by default and also selected A-series cameras. Apparently, there are some patent issues that restrict other manufacturers to include the "vari-angle" design into their cameras... boo on you Canon.

I have included a small manually compiled list of current digicams with a rotating LCD (readers please contribute with other cameras which I may have missed out), a big "boo-hoo" to DPReview for not including this in their features search, cmon guys its time to update your search criteria.

Canon
- Canon PowerShot A650 IS
- Canon PowerShot S5 IS
- Canon PowerShot TX1 *not really a camera this..

Nikon
- Nikon Coolpix S10

Olympus
- Olympus E-3

Sony
- Sony Cyber-shot H9 (only allows tilt, better than nothing I suppose..)

Bowling at Warren

2007-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Brought Harry to bowl again at Warren. Bowled a terrible 120+ average and as usual made the same release error of forcing the shot > not relaxing my arm on the throw and subsequently following through straight up instead of rotating my arm/wrist anti-clockwise. Everything went into the 3-7 pocket. grrr

Harry was bowling better though with the bumpers. :)

Was reminded why I stopped bowling previously, irritating bowlers on the right who don't follow lane etiquette. There was also an irritating operator who made noise when we used the bumpers when Harry wasnt bowling :p.

VW Golf GT mini review

2007-12-19T03:43:00.000-08:00

1.4 liters isnt a lot. A large PET bottle of Coke is already 1.5l.

Which is why it is amazing that that same exact 1.4l can power the new VW Golf GT from 0-100kmh in 7.7s. I had a test drive today at VW Singapore and the power that this little gem can produce is truly amazing. The SGD80k Golf 1.6 FSI I drove beforehand had a full 200cc over the GT, and it felt pretty good. However, the SGD98k GT felt like a totally different car altogether even though it looks externally not much different from a regular Golf. It handled better, it was more precise and the power... oh boy the power...

Of course, it isn't just the TSI engine that makes such a difference between the GT and the regular 1.6 Golf. The GT has VW's 6 speed DSG (think smooth gearchanges) and also VW's sports suspension that lowered the car by 15mm in addition to a nicer cabin with sports seats and nicer steering wheel. Which all serves to add up to one big question - why choose the 120k GTI over this baby?

Best color for the car: Chili Red or Black.

Chicken Rice wars... in Singapore

2007-12-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

There are so many chicken rice stalls in Singapore, you could probably eat at a different store every day in a year and still not eat them all. This is not even counting the variations of chicken rice - e.g. Malay style, Indian brani style.... Please do not do that since u would surely fall flat due to heart disease or something. Chicken rice is a pretty fatty and unhealthy food.

Since I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle... yeah right.. I only eat chicken rice ever so often... hmm maybe once in 2 weeks? But I am pretty sure I have tasted some really good chicken rice over the years. Some of my favorites are:

1. Boon Tong Kee - Thomson branch opposite Novena Church. I really dont fancy the other branches... especially the upscale ones.

2. Loy Kee at Whampoa - best for the non-roasted version. I actually prefer the chilli at Loy Kee compared to other places

3. Tong Fong Fatt at Ghim Moh Market - really tasty rice in this one.

4. Margaret Drive store (on second floor) - this one is famous because of its tie ups with the other store (same store??) for wan ton soup. Nothing really special about this version.

5. Hainanese chicken rice at Alexandra Market - I like this one because $3.50 buys u a huge portion with achar and a MSG laden soup.

6. Blk 33 Dover Rd - there are 2 stalls here visible from the carpark as you drive in. I think both are nice but I like the one in the middle for its roasted version. Try the watermelon juice at the drinks store next door as well.. great for $1.

Mini-Zs from Kyosho

2007-12-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Lots of people play with RC toys and when these get too boring or break, dump them for actual cars. For myself, that was also the case, however, I still have my Audi Quattro car from my childhood days in my dad's place.

In my case, I have gone back to RC with Mini-Zs. However, like Kyosho has written in their catalog, Mini-Zs can't be called RC Toys. They drive like mini-cars (or 1:28 scale versions) and follow the same driving dynamics because of proportional steering and the way the cars are designed. Well, not really. Mini-Z cars have much more power in proportion to their weight unlike normal cars (power to weight ratio). For example, I can easily break traction and slide on a slippery surface like the wooden floor of my living room especially with the reverse gear which has that much more torque.

A Readyset Mini-Z kit comes with a radio transmitter and a single car cover on a chassis all ready to go except for adding batteries (8AAs and 4AAAs) and screwing in the antenna.

Mini-Zs come in many chassis types -

MR-01 (the original config with batteries one on top of another),
MR-02 (different battery config and batteries side by side),
MR-015 (same battery config as MR-01 but with different/cheaper electronics and no brake) which are rear wheel drive cars, and
MA-010 which is front wheel drive.

and mounts - i.e. RM - rear mount "engine"/motor, MM - mid mount, and HM - high mount (actually rear mount also).

I bought a lovely red Lamborghini Jota MR-015MM i-Series (which is kind of like a lower spec Mini-Z for beginners) for $139 in Singapore and a really cool black Enzo MR-02MM. I also got a whole bunch of covers, a red Enzo, a black and a silver Mclaren F1, a black BMW M3 and a white VW Golf GTI - Kyosho calls them Autoscale models just for the heck of it and bcos I love the look of model cars. My plan is to get a display case for the cars plus my other 1:24 scale die-cast models - a black Porsche Carrera, a green Lamborghini Murcielago and a black BMW Z8. I figured since I am hitting middle age and cant afford any of these in real life.. what the heck..

Some links to Mini-Z guides I found..

http://mini-z.home.att.net/

http://www.dansdata.com/miniz.htm

Ferrari Enzo Test Car (Kyosho Mini-Z MR02MM)

2007-12-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Ferrari Enzo is one of the premier supercars in the world today (out of production) capable of 0-62mph times of 3.6s and a top speed of 217mph. Even though others might be faster e.g. the Mclaren F1 (243mph) and quicker to 62mph i.e. Bugatti Veyron (2.5s, the Bugatti also can reach 254mph), I dont think any supercar can match the sheer looks and presence of the Enzo. Even the name Enzo sounds good. Imagine telling pp that you have a Veyron.. the looks you would get.. what Veron huh... blahaha

Well, I can boast that I have 2 Enzos... a Black Test car version and a Red one for everyday driving.. ha!

Lamborghini Jota (Kyosho Mini-Z MR015MM)

2007-12-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

The Lamborghini Jota was a one-off make of the Miura made by one of their ex-employees. Most of the changes made to create the Jota were internal - namely the aluminium construction and the tweaked engine! I loved the Miura, one the sexiest cars ever made (especially the lime green ones) so it was easy to decide that I was going to get a Jota for my first Mini-Z. Plus the fact that the alternative was a really crappy Ford or a Alfa.

I hope the rumors of a new Miura are true, at least the prototypes look cool..

This car, as well as the new HSC concept by Honda are some of my top cars to look forward to in the coming years.

As for the Mini-Z version of the Jota, I usually drive it at home on my shiny wooden floor and the car really likes to do donuts. Cant say I complain about the power as well however full power will make the car skate over the floor. It probably will do well on a proper RCP track since then, it wont skid and slide so much and have much more traction. It runs on an i-Series board which I have not been able to get much documentation on from Kyosho. Seems fine so far.

Bowling..revised and revisited

2007-12-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

Bowled quite a lot in Wisconsin. I remember the Point Bowl (http://www.pointbowl.com/) where I still have a yellow free game card when I hit a strike when I got a yellow headpin. People like Rico, Hwee Fung etc introduced me to the game.

In Siemens, we used to bowl quite often, at Jalan Sultan at Textile center. I bought a ball to get "more serious" in the game after I left the co. Not knowing anything about buying a ball (I had only used polyester balls at the bowling alley previously), I headed into the proshop at West Bowl and the pro recommended me a Brunswick Rhino Dusty Blue. At 14 lbs, it was the heaviest ball I had used and it was made of urethane. Using a house ball, I normally used 12 lbs but as the pro explained, a correct drilling would allow me to control a 14lbs ball easily. It was the first time I had ever used a fingertip grip and the drilling gave me a mild hook shot.

Later, my wife bought me a Ebonite 8-ball and 2-ball bag with wheels for my birthday at Victor Superbowl and she got herself a Columbia White Dot. We bowled semi-often mainly at Victors or Marina Superbowl until one day, we just stopped bowling. Too many hobbies I guess.. :p

We just brought Harry to the alley at Warren last Sunday and I think we will start bowling again since he seems to enjoy it.

Planted tanks.. Aquaria!

2007-11-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

We will be moving out of our place soon so I thought I would take a picture of our planted tank that I have had for close to 2 yrs. I still remember buying the tank from a guy who stayed in the 4th storey of a HDB block and I carried it back by myself together with the stand. Boy, was I stronger in those days... :)... only 2 yrs ago!

Its a 3ft tank with CO2 and lighting. Keeping an aquarium is supposed to keep you calm and is a good hobby that requires very little time to maintain and upkeep. On average, I replace 1/4 of the water using a siphon every week with fresh water. I wash the external filter (a Atman 3336) and change the filter sponge every 2 months or so.

As its a planted tank, the plants in the tank will make use of the waste materials from the fish to grow and in turn provide oxygen for the fish to breathe. Of course, you have to provde light to the plants in order for photosynthesis to occur - in our case we have some strip lighting that we place above the tank that we switch on about 9 hours a day. Lots of people put an air pump in their fish tank which is totally unnecessary for planted tanks. The fish in the tank dont require much in terms of food and when I am travelling, I can fit an automatic fish feeder that dispenses food every day.

We keep cardinal tetras, striped pencilfish and also corys (panda and leopard) mostly, with some otos and yamatos and a single dwarf puffer which is mostly caged since he likes to snack on the fins of the other fish. Not sure if we can keep the tank or sell/give it away when we move... life is full of decisions...

Next car up... Civic, Golf or ...

2007-10-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

After looking at the list of cars endlessly over last few months, the same few cars stand out in my new car search:

Honda Civic 2.0 - around 80k, has pretty ok power (0-100kmh is 9.2 sec) and its the overall practical choice with enough space. Good fuel consumption too. There are tons on the road here in Singapore though... bleah

VW Golf GTI - around 125k, great car with power (0-100kmh is 6.9 sec, DSG version), handling and space but it is pricey, the GT is an option at 99k (0-100kmh is only 1 sec slower)but you will always have that niggling feeling that you should have probably have gotten the GTI.

Mazda MX-5 Miata - I have loved this car from college days. now with a new retractable hardtop, it is even more desirable (0-100kmh is around sec). However, it is hardly practical for a family with one kid and maid so I will have to put it on the backburner until Harry grows up.. It shall be mine...:)...

The pro's racket.. Wilson Pro Staff 6.0

2007-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

My first racket was an aluminium Dunlop with an oversized head that my dad bought for me years ago. I dont remember what happened to it only that he borrowed it for a game in Jakarta and it never came back. That was some time ago...

Later, I got myself a Dunlop Max 200g in the vein of Johnny Mac and Steffi Graf. It was was a beautiful racket, full of touch and verve.. however, the head always felt too small, the frame was boxy and boy was it a heavy racket at 13oz or more. I used the 200g throughout my college days and midway (I cant remember exactly when though), I bought a Pro Staff 6.0 to replace it.

My introduction to the Pro Staff 6.0, or PS 6.0 was during my army days while on the tennis team. I remember we were at NUS courts one day and some guy had a PS 6.0 and I tried it out knowing that great players like Edberg, Evert and Courier had used it. A guy called Sampras had not quite broken through yet. Well, my first impression of the racket wasnt good. It felt like a board and my arm hurt afterwards.

No idea why I bought the Pro Staff then a few years later. I bought a pair of PS 6.1s with a 95 sq inch head b4 that and good as those rackets were, I never felt comfortable with them. I sold them on Auction and bought a single PS 6.0 to try out. What a revelation. I must have been too used to the 200g's flex beforehand but the PS 6.0 felt perfect after the 6.1s.

The headsize of the PS 6.0 is really small at 85sq inches. Also, the frame is really thin and manoeuvrable. You cant find a racket like this anymore. I added some lead tape at 9 and 3 oclock and it felt even better on groundstrokes. There was a definite lack of power before I did that. Of course, the weight of the racket did go up to nearly 13 oz again.... but I hardly feel it. I am so used to heavy rackets, whenever I am tempted to get a new racket to replace the PS 6.0 e.g. like the Babolat Aeros or a Wilson K-factor, I give up the idea bcos these rackets feel like plastic toy rackets. I refuse to use the K-factor 90sq incher bcos that is the "Federer" racket and I just dont feel gay enough to use it. :p

All time classic songs (occasionally updated)

2007-09-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

I always love songs with a great intro.. here's a list some of fav and truly classic songs:

Alphaville - forever young, big in japan, sounds like a melody (1984)
Barry Manilow - mandy
Beach Boys - god only knows
Bee Gees - too many to list e.g. i started a joke, you win again, immortality (not the celine dion version!)
Billy Idol - eyes without a face, sweet sixteen
Bonnie Tyler - total eclipse of the heart (1983)
Brenda Russell - piano in the dark, get here (1988)
Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music - avalon, slave to love (gotta love those trademark pukka sticks!)
Chemical Brothers - hey boy hey girl
Cutting Crew - i just died in your arms (1985)
Cyndi Lauper - true colors
Dire Straits - money for nothing, romeo & juliet
Duran Duran - rio
Dave Matthews Band - one sweet world
Eurythmics - again, too many to list e.g. sweet dreams (1983), there must be an angel (1985), angel (1989), no more i love yous
Everything But The Girl or E.B.T.G. - all tracks from "acoustic" (1992)
Fire Inc - tonight is what it means to be young, nowhere fast (1984 - from streets of fire, great movie starring diane lane and michael pare)
John Lennon - woman, imagine
Joni Mitchell - both sides now (2000)
Michael Jackson - billie jean
No Doubt - don't speak
Queen - bohemian rhapsody, under pressure
Paul Oakenfold - starry eyed surprise
Prince - when doves cry, purple rain (great great guitar intro..)
Roxette - it must have been love (1990 - from pretty woman)
Richard Marx - endless summer nights (1988)
Simple Minds - don't you forget about me (1985)
Spandau Ballet - through the barricades
Suzanna Vega - luka (1987 - gotta love luca.. my dear nephew)
The Beach Boys - god only knows
The Cardigans - my favorite game
The Eagles - hotel california (only for that guitar/percussion solo opening..)
The Pretenders - i'll stand by you (1994)
The Verve - bitter sweet symphony (1997)
Tracy Chapman - fast car, baby can i hold you tonight (1988)

here's a plug for Yahoo's Launchcast, one of my favorite music services which allows you to personalize the songs that you want to hear by rating the music. give it a try!

Photo Organizing Strategy

2007-09-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

I've been struggling with this for some time now on my old PC, but with the new one here, I am doing a migration of all our family photos and boy is it ever tough. The problem is, like a lot of people, I have files all over the place in several different hard drives and there are duplicates. I also have several backups and those arent helping. I have problems deleting backups!

My plan now is to create a single master photo repository in my new 320gb hard drive and create a single sync backup on my 200gb USB drive. Now how am I going to organize them and have a good strategy to ensure I can find a photo after a few years. Some of my current thoughts...

a) For events that happened e.g. a party or a vacation,

d:\photos\year\yearmonth_subject (e.g. d:\photos\2007\200701_harrysbirthday)

b) For miscellaneous snaps,

d:\photos\year\subject (e.g. d:\photos\2007\auctionshots)

c) For subjects that I want to track over time,

d:\photos\subject (e.g. d:\photos\harry)

Obviously, for some of these folders, a good naming strategy for the filename needs to be in place - to make the file name unique within the taxonomy. I am going to look for a good batch renaming software. Will keep you guys posted..

Bought my new [photo editing] computer.. at last!

2007-08-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

After agonizing over the past month.. reading up on the hardwarezone and vr-zone forums, visiting Sim Lim Square numerous times and poring over price lists from Fuwell, Bell etc.. I finally took the plunge on a new PC.

My old machine - a Pentium 3-733 with 512MB ram had lasted me for some time (7 yrs!), so I wanted to build a machine that would last for quite a few years mainly to manage my photos and run Photoshop. The major consideration for me was the graphics card and since I dont game too much (except for the occasional Tiger Woods golf game or Diablo/Guild Wars slash), I decided to get a low end graphics card that will support DX10 for longevity. My final config ended up like this.... purchased from PC Themes on the 4th floor of Sim Lim Square -

CPU - Intel C2D E6750 2.66Ghz (with Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro heatsink/fan)
Motherboard - Asus P5K-E (comes with wireless!, been using Asus for years)
RAM - Crucial Ballistix PC6400 DDR2-800 (decided to splurge on some nice bling bling ram even though they were double the normal ram :))
Hard disk - Western Digital 320GB Sata2 16MB cache blah blah
DVD Writer - Asus Lightscribe DRW-1814BLT Sata 18x (cheap lah..)
Graphics - Asus EN8600GT 256MB (a tough choice but I decided to go with nVidia because I am not sure how ATI will fare under AMD control)
Casing - Lian-Li PC-A05B (small and cool case.. with 120mm fans)
PSU - Silverstone Element ST50EF-Plus 500W
Monitor - HP w2207 22inch LCD (coming from a 15 incher.. this is bliss!)
Keyboard - Logitech Classic Keyboard Plus
Mouse - Logitech Mx518
Speakers - Bose AcoustiMass 5 (hooked up to an old Technics amp)

Installed it all together with my wife (love u b!)with minimal screaming.. :) Took 4 hours.. what with all the reading of the manuals and with Harry interrupting... Vista and Photoshop CS2 here we come!

My old PCs (drumroll please... tatatataaa!!)

2007-08-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

DREWHOME - 2000-2007 (moved to Dads place)

Pentium III-733Mhz
Asus CUSL2 motherboard
512MB SDRAM
Asus ATI MX400 32mb graphics
Creative soundcard
Maxtor 80gb & 40gb + HP CD-writer
Enlight case
Compaq Proliant keyboard + Microsoft optical mouse
Compaq 15in LCD
CH Flightstick Pro
Fav games played - Warcraft 2&3, Starcraft 2, Icewind Dale, Diablo1&2, Tiger Woods golf, Guild Wars etc

DREWII - 1995?-2000 (status - retired)

Pentium 1 200Mhz
Asus MB
128MB EDO RAM
Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI graphics
Turtle Beach Monte Carlo sound (big mistake!)
IBM 16GB hard disk
4x CD reader
Viewsonic 15inch CRT
Fav games - Warcraft, Starcraft, Sims

DREW1 - Pre-1995 (status - retired)

Aris brand
Intel 486-66
32MB RAM?
Mag Innovision 17inch CRT
2.1GB, 4GB hard disk
Fav games played - Microprose Xcom UFO Unknown, Doom

Pre DREW1
Amiga 500
Apple II clone - 64MB

Drew Simpson...

2007-07-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Had fun with this... hehe. Get your own Simpsons Avatar at http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html?cid=us

Choking in Golf - Take 2 (aka a letter to Sergio Garcia)

2007-07-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Golf is the most pressurizing individual sport that you can can play.

Unlike tennis, you can't shake off your nerves by hitting harder or by showing emotion or by taking a break on the sidelines. You don't even have the luxury of having your support team at the side of the court egging you on.

In golf, emotions run how you play the game.

I just watched Sergio Garcia lose in a playoff to Padraig Harrington in the 2007 British Open. Garcia definitely LOST the tournament, but Harrington WON the tournament. Anyone who can come back after that disaster on the 18th with hitting 2 horrible shots in the water and shooting double bogey deserves it in my book. Hats off to Harrington's wife for releasing his son on the 18th green and in turn released all the pressure on him.

Much as I would have loved to see Garcia win, I have to admit he didn't deserve it. Although others have done worse i.e. Jean Van de Velde in 1999, looking at Garcia's ball striking and putting over the first 3 days, it was his tournament to win. A par or a +1 for the day would have won him the tournament.

To Sergio, chin up man! You are one of my heroes in golf. No one else in the game looks like they enjoy the game. That's the key - enjoy your game, especially in the last round of a Major when all the pressures of the world seem to be on your shoulders.
My advice is not to work on your golf for a few days. Your ball striking at the British Open these last 4 days was fantastic. Don't second guess yourself. Trust your putter and your putting stroke, you should since you are rolling the ball beautifully. Don't take too long over the putt and trust your first look at the line. Reconsider your course strategy, although you can hit your irons a long way, your ball flight was too low and didn't hold the greens. Hitting a 3 wood into the 18th green would have taken pressure off your second shot e.g. instead of a 220 carry, you probably would have a shorter short onto the green.
More importantly, recover your fighting spirit. If you believe in yourself (we all do), you will win in the Majors. Take heart.

Singapore Duck Rice Awards

2007-07-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, my wife and I completed our first "tour of duty" of duck rice places in Singapore. after much lip smacking and flossing (boy does duck meat stick to your teeth!), this is the final list of podium finishers:

Sin Huat Duck Rice (Lor 35, Geylang) - lip smacking good. I would have no problem finishing off 2 plates of this rice which is consistently tasty each time i visit. unfortunately, i dont think they have noodles or kway chap.. scores=rice (9), duck (8), sauce (9), soup (7).

Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice Restaurant (38 South Buona Vista Road) - great sauce. i would rate the duck here as the most tasty. unfortunately, again no noodles and the tau gua isnt as tasty as the rest. quite expensive too. scores=rice (8), duck (9), sauce (9), soup (7).

Rochor Duck Rice & Mutton Soup (327 Beach Road) - without doubt, the best choice of stuffs to accompany the duck. the rice is good, the noodles are fantastic and the kway chap isnt bad as well here. the best herby tasting soup of all. scores=rice/noodles (9), duck (7), sauce (6), soup (9).

Newton Duck rice store (Newton Circus, facing the car park) - this is pretty much a run of the mill duck rice. the duck noodles are pretty good though, if a bit oily, of course, its the fried lard that makes it taste so good. will do to fill the stomach! scores=rice/noodles (7), duck (7), sauce (6), soup (6)

Yu Kee Duck rice (many branches islandwide) - very much the run of the mill duck rice. average quality, saved by the chili which has ikan bilis bits in it. scores=rice/noodles (6), duck (6), sauce (6), soup (6)

IWC Pilot's Watch Mark XVI mini review

2007-07-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is the first "serious" watch that I have purchased for myself. To date, the only watches that I have bought and still keep today are my 18yr old G-Shock.. (amazingly, I have never changed the lithium battery on that watch and it is still keeping decent time), a couple of Swatches and a Seiko Black Monster I bought recently over Ebay.

Looking at the watch (its on my wrist as I am writing this), I feel that I am owning a slice of history. The International Watch Company or IWC is one of the watchmakers that has stayed true to its origins, mainly as a maker of classic dress watches that are slim and imminently wearable. I shot the picture to the right in B&W as the watch is black and white, it has a beautiful matt black dial with striking white hands.
It is a stainless steel watch equipped with an automatic mechanical Calibre 30110 movement with 42-hour power reserve. Apparently, it runs at 28,800 v.p.h. (this stands for vibration frequency, wiki it to find out what it means), convex sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and secure against drop in air pressure, water-resistant to 60 metres and most importantly, it has IWC's classic antimagnetic characteristics due to its soft iron core. For more specs, check out https://www.iwc.com/collection/collection_detail.asp?l=en&mid=408.

The watch itself isnt too big - about 39mm and it feels very light on the wrist. Some people might say that this is the poor man's Big Pilot and they are right! The Big Pilot is too big for most people to wear as an everyday watch at a whopping 47mm!! The Mark XVI is nice & slim too, so it can fit well under long shirt sleeves. The crocodile strap that it comes with is the only slight disappointing thing about the watch - it is too thin and some of the stitching has started to come out! Besides that, it is a great watch and a piece of horology. How many people can boast of wearing a true "pilots watch"? Make sure you get a catalog when you buy the watch. It is a great read that describes IWC history and how their great watches came about. Hmm.. that Portugese 7 days on pg 170 looks quite appealing... haha!!

Which metering to use on Nikon DSLRs

2007-07-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

1. Matrix metering - I use it most of the time unless there are areas of high contrast in the picture. Might not work well when the image has mostly light or dark areas.

2. Center weighted metering - I understand what center weighted metering is (i.e. it takes the exposure reading from roughly 70% at the center of the scene) but I have never understood why it still exists in modern Nikon DSLRs. It seems like a legacy mode (pre-FA) before matrix metering existed. People suggest to use this for portraits or when the target is in the middle of the frame but Matrix metering isnt dumb anymore and wont give you those black faced/bright landscape shots often anymore. You should activate your fill-in flash in these situations anyway. One explanation when this mode still exists is to use it when the matrix meter tries to be too smart or is fooled to giving the wrong exposure you want. My solution is to use spot metering in these cases.

3. Spot metering - use it when you want to tell the camera which area of the scene you want to take a reading from. On most Nikons, this still relies on the center sensor. IMHO, this mode is the most important of all and all cameras should have it together with a manual exposure option. It should be possible to take all your shots using spot metering. You just have to select a target that is middle grey (18% grey) to get a balanced exposure. A good tip I use is to meter from the blue sky as often as possible.

Why I buy Nikon over other camera makes

2007-06-29T00:57:00.000-07:00

Nikon is one of the only camera manufacturers to have retained a common lens mounting system throughout all these years, the venerable F-Mount (ever since 1959 with the Nikon F. For more info click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-mount). I would stick to Nikon for this reason alone. This means I can use lenses dating back to the 1980s such as the E-series 75-150mm f3.5 on my 3-year old D70 (yes, of course you will lose metering but who cares with the ability to preview shots instantaneously). Which makes a huge difference in preserving the longevity of your system.
Nikon is one of the only camera manufacturers that still innovates and produces great film SLRs such as the F6. The legacy of photography is film. All photographers should remember this.
Nikon is the one of the only camera manufacturers who still persists in innovating with their products. As an example, check out the Nikon SU-800 and SB-R200 Macro Flash system (available as a set as the R1C1 http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=4&productNr=4803) which replaced the slightly clunky Sb-29s.

Fourth Gen BMW M3

2007-06-29T00:42:00.000-07:00

This is the concept model of the new M3 coming out in 2007/2008. Well. Officially this is a concept but in reality, the production model is nearly identical.

Looking at the shape of the car, I would guess the first reaction for most BMW-petrolheads would be to welcome the move by the designer to make this M3 much more distinctive looking compared to the standard 3-series coupe. According to BMW, only stuff like the doors and some inconsequential stuff like the petrol filler cap are the same as the coupe.

That being said, this M3 looks like a lame duck. The power bulge on the bonnet is too big and conspicuous and to be absolutely frank - it still does look too similar to the standard 3-series coupe. Seems like all they changed were the wing mirrors - these are ugly!, and the body kit, and the quad exhaust at the back. The basic E92 3-series coupe is not as elegant looking as the previous E46 version. Whereas the E46 looked taut and lean, the E92 basically looks fat and has weird proportions. It shows a basic lack of good ideas at BMW and dont get me started about the cabriolet version.

Don't get me wrong - I love Beemers. But something has gone wrong with the design team at BMW and my advice for all potential M3 owners is to get a Audi RS4 and enjoy that car for 7 years until BMW get their act together.

2007 Ford Focus mini review

2007-03-09T02:10:00.000-08:00

A car is a symbol of how a guy wants to be portrayed.

This statement is true. The classic way to see how a guy thinks about himself is to look at his car: BMW- aggressive, show-off, the ultimate yuppie machine, Audi -boring, pretentious, mechanical, a style freak, Merc - symbol that you have"made it", French car - trying to be different, Italian car - masochist, Japanese car - boring, etc...

Then how would you label the guy who chooses a Ford? Well, Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson seems to have soft spot for British cars especially Fords so I would say... a Ford is a car for the middle aged man who knows about the above and doesnt want to buy the makes listed bcos of it. Ok, he doesnt want to be typecasted. That sounding exactly like me nowadays, the other day, my wife and I stepped into the Ford dealership and asked to try out the Ford Focus.

The Ford Focus 1.6 is an interesting car. It will forever be in the shadow of the VW Golf but yet, desperately tries to show that it is different. The previous version, for example, was rakish looking, was designed with lots of ovals, and a zig zaggy interior that gave me an instant headache. It was supposed to be a really good drive though but had a buzzy engine that lacked soul and Ford sold tons of them. I think Ford knew about the zig zaggy headache I had because the current Focus has a exterior styling that is safe, a little too safe - kinda boring. The interior does look much better than the previous car - especially the Ghia version with the auto climate controls and the soft touch plastics.

At around 65k SGD for the non-Ghia version (the Ghia version has uprated bits like sunroof, leather trim and better plastics), it is certainly affordable for a 1.6l car. Amazingly, the sedan is cheaper than the hatchback, an admission that the sedan shape hasnt caught up in terms of looks. On the test drive, the salesman encouraged me to drive enthusiastically to test out the cars dynamic handling. Disappointingly (to him), a corner taken at 60kmh from Queenwsay to Commonwealth was all that I could muster but the car does handle very well. The same buzzy engine is still there though and that is disappointing. The basic spec is also very good, with all disc brakes and the boot is a decent shape. Sound system isnt too great though.

My conclusion for the Focus - I might consider it if the Ghia version was cheaper but the VW Golf still has it beaten when it comes to overall comfort and refinement. The ST version is a stunner though and is a great and cheaper alternative to the VW Golf GTI.

Best color for the car: Dark Blue

Naim 5i/CD5i

2006-12-02T23:35:00.000-08:00

The sound of Naim is easy to recognize. "Good tempo" is a classic comment. More importantly, the Naim sound is not an electronic sound. Of course, it cannot compare to the soulfulness of tube acoustics but it is truely an audiophile sound..

My first encounter with Naim was with a Naim 5 that I bought secondhand from someone from Echoloft. When I first heard it, it made my previous Rotel and my demo set of Roksan sound decidedly crappy. Unfortunately, I got conned and the set started malfunctioning (the volume control was whacky). Fate will make sure that $%$#%$@ person who sold me that set gets his just punishment in the future. I found out later from Acoustic Sound the distributor in SG that that set was faulty and had been repaired several times and had many previous owners before.

Luckily (or unluckily) the Absolute guy allowed me to trade in the Naim 5 for his demo set which included a Naim 5i and CD5i. I can say, the sound of the 5i isnt as warm as that of the 5. But it isnt bad, and the extra 20W probably drives my B&Ws better. Unfortunately, my 5i volume led has died recently, leading me to conclude that Naim QC is not the greatest. Also, the much vaunted rule of using NACA cables seems to be a marketing gimmick. The sound isnt much improved over my previous run of bi-wire cables.

I was tempted to get a NATO tuner but I might hold back and wait for a good deal on a DAB set. The Tivolis dont appeal to me though..

The below pic is of my Naims with B&W speakers.. listening position isnt ideal though at the PC though... :)

Crumpler Formal Lounge mini review

2006-06-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

Most serious photogs will tell you the same thing - next to lens choices, buying a camera bag is one of the hardest things to decide on. There are literally tons of websites recommending the best camera bag to use - try cambags.com for some good pictures of cameras in bags. After my NZ trip where I brought my SR 200 crammed with 2 bodies, 3-4 lenses and a backup and nearly broke my shoulder, I have sworn to become a photo minimalist. Most people simply won't use all that gear when travelling for leisure.

Nowadays, I usually carry a body and extra lens or a small compact digicam like my Fuji F31fd as a daily shooter. For travels, I only carry a single SLR body, 2 lenses max and one compact camera as a backup (used to be my Olympus Stylus Epic, now using the Fuji F31fd) plus a tripod (usually a Manfrotto 3007 Table top tripod, sometimes a Manfrotto 719B). I already have a shoulder bag - a Stealth Reporter which I mainly use in Singapore when I go for events and family occasions, but I wanted a backpack for travelling so I wouldnt have to carry another bag as a daypack plus I wanted a bag that could carry a laptop.

Popular options in Singapore are Lowepro (Compu-trekker, CompuRover, Stealth AW, Compudaypack etc) and Crumpler. As I mentioned earlier, I really like Lowepro, especially their Stealth Reporter line) but most of their traditional camera backpacks make the carrier look like a ninja-turtle i.e. it looks like a person carry a box. As mentioned earlier, I wanted a bag that could function as a daypack also, and the Trekker line from Lowepeo were mostly for dedicated camera carrying use. The designs were really stupid too, in order to access the camera equipment, you have to place the bag on the floor straps down e.g. in dirt etc and open the main flap - too slow to access and ruining a perfectly good shirt maybe.

After spending some time traversing the super-confusing Crumpler website, I finally got the Formal Lounge in Olive. This bag doesnt good enough for someone to want to steal stuff from it, and the main compartment is accessible only from the rear - i.e. facing the person's back. I usually put a bottle of water and into the main compartment in the back, my Manfrotto table tripod in the padded laptop compartment - unfortunately not removable. A 15inch laptop can fit into the laptop area. You could easily slip in a light jacket or even a small flash in there. The bag has external cloth "slots" on the right and left so you could slip a tripod leg into the hook for carrying a tripod; there is no "designated" tripod holder. I hardly carry a large tripod so thats ok.

The main camera compartment is tiny and has 3 padded compartments. You can carry a semi-pro SLR with a mid lens mounted in the middle and smaller stuff like lenses on the left and right. I usually bring my Nikon D70 with 12-24 mounted (or 18-70) plus a 24-120 or a 50mm. If I wanted to carry my 80-400mm, I would have to put this in the main compartment. There is space to carry a blower as well. The camera padding is removable so you can use this bag as a normal laptop backpack.

As for comfort, I carried this bag around Paris for a day with much more gear that I listed above and I survived. A little sore yes - Crumpler makes really hard bags - but it gets the job done. This is not a hiking style bag. The back of the bag has 2 padded areas that gets hot quickly and cannot match the comfort and coolness of my Deuter AirComfort style backpack.

Would I buy this bag again? Probably not. I realize I hardly will bring a laptop AND camera equipment around - the combined weight would be a killer. Mostly for travelling then. But the materials used look like they would last a long time. Hmm.. maybe I could pass this to Harry in lets say - another 10 years :)?

A dog's love

2006-05-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Buddy (1996 - 29 May 2006)

Immortality,
I make my journey through eternity
I keep the memory of you and me inside

But you are my only,
And I will follow on the road that lies ahead
And I wont let my heart control my head
But u are you my only,
We Don`t say goodbye,
We Don`t say goodbye,
And I know what I've got to be

Immortality,
There is a vision and a fire in me,
I'll keep the memory of you and me inside
We Don`t say goodbye
We Don`t say goodbye
With all my love for you
And what ever else we may do
We Don`t say goodbye...

Manfrotto 719B - the perfect travel tripod?

2006-04-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

Looking the major tripod manufacturers today - you have Gitzo, Manfrotto and the rest. The rest includes quite ok brands like Velbon or Slik and the china brands which I wont mention...

I guess the perfect travel tripod would be the Gitzo carbon fiber GT1540 until you hit the cost issue (around 500 USD)... ugh.. thats serious $$$

So what is a perfect travel tripod to me?? It

- must be light at around 3lbs (1.36kg) or so
- must extend to the right height for me - at least 1.2m for the legs w/o the center column, plus head and camera this would bring it to around 1.5-1.6m through the eyepiece.

- must fold and fit into a backpack while at <50cm,>

My Manfrotto 719B NEARLY fulfils all of the requirements and its 1/5 the cost of the Gitzo at around 100 bucks new. It went with me on my New Zealand trip and did its job well. Its only weakness is the built-in head which cannot support heavier lens setups like a 70-200mm f2.8. In a fit of shopping-lust, I replaced it with a Velbon carbon fiber version with a Kirk Enterprises head and my 719b is used now as an overweight light stand.

"IDEAL or REQUIRED" lenses for Nikon shooters?

2006-03-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

There's always been a lot of talk in the Nikon fraternity about the trinity of lenses - meaning the trio of f2.8 lenses, namely the 17-35mm, 28-70mm and the 70-200mm VR. These cover the focal range of wide, normal and telephoto with supposedly superb sharpness and color but at nearly SGD$7000 aren't exactly cheap. I say supposedly since I dont own any of the trinities... :)

But frankly, these three lenses might not be the best at shooting in certain situations e.g. for macro, street shooting, birding and portrait shots. They are great for what can be classified as general purpose shooting, things like landscapes, holiday shots, family, sports and wedding shooting.

So what can be classified as a set of practical and "ideal" set of lenses for a Nikon user to cover almost any situation a photographer will face? Well, I can give you the standard reply that it "depends on what you shoot" but that would be copping out! I will simply make the assumption that you are like me - an amateur shooter - someone who takes pictures of a wide spectrum of subjects - and just wants to be prepared for any occasion. I will also make the assumption that most people do shoot both film and digital and that you DO have a budget! As a result, I have attempted to choose lenses with a budget of about five thousand Singapore dollars. Now that may seem a lot, but it will be approximately be the price of a decent Nikon DSLR (I recommend the D70s, if you can afford it the D200), film SLR (I recommend the the F100 whole-heartily). I have focussed (pardon the pun) on AF lenses and will save the AIS lenses for another post...

Wide lenses (for going wide)

Nikon 12-24mm DX F4. This would be the most expensive lens in the arsenal and to me is the essential choice to cover the wide angle if you are using a digital SLR with a 1.5x crop of a 35mm frame. Some people might say that the 17-55mm would be a better choice but since 17mm is hardly wide enough (25mm in 35mm terms) and this lens is much more expensive than the 12-24 (around SGD$2,000 when I last checked), I hesitate to recommend it. I use the 12-24 frequently whenever I travel, because it can capture such dramatic landscapes, and to a lesser extent for parties, weddings and gatherings). Costs around SGD$1375.
Nikon 20mm F2.8. The 12-24 lens is great choice for your digital body, but what about your full frame film body? To get the 17-35mm would be overkill; such a short range and at more than SGD$2000 it would blow most people's budgets in a hurry! C'mon, we all know a plasma TV would get more use than this lens! The MOST I would ever spend on a lens is SGD$1500 and that would be stretching it. As such, I would heartily recommend the 20mm Nikkor. Much lighter than the trinity zooms and 20mm is plenty wide enough for most people. Costs around SGD$700.

Normal lenses (for going fast and simple)

Nikon 50mm F1.8. This lens is a no-brainer, doing double duty for both digital/film and can be used as a portrait lens or a great walkabout lens. Sharp too with nice bokeh at large apetures! For a low light lens, it has no parallel except for its F1.4 brother ($$$) and the 85mm F1.4 ($$$$$+). Cheap, light and you wont even know it was in front of your cam. Focusses fast too. Costs around SGD$160.

Mid-range Zoom (all-purpose/travelling lens)

Nikon 18-70mm DX F3.5-4.5. Now most people would tell me to get the 18-200mm DX VR. That is an attractive option but at more than SGD$1200 it is a lens that is a wee bit overpriced. After all, a mid range lens is supposed to be reasonably cheap! This lens is actually a super underpriced lens that performs very well for digital SLRs for travelling and all purpose shooting. This is a lens that I recommend getting used since so many people are letting it go at outrageous prices! Available for around SGD$250 used. Recommended for shooting in areas that arent so "safe". However, never mind if u lose it, you can pick another up easily at a steal.
Nikon 24-120mm VR F3.5-5.6. This lens has been slammed repeatedly by many people for being "not sharp". Many of these people have never even used this lens. In my informal tests using my 24mm, 50mm and 105mm lenses, I can see no significant differences between these primes and the 24-120mm. Face it, the 24-120mm range is ideal in a single lens especially for film users. Other alternatives most people mention are the are the 28-105mm and 24-85mm (color reproduction for the Japan version of this lens is fantastic though), which are good choices but with no significant advantages over the 24-120mm. Great for both digital and film use and again, I recommend that you get this used at around SGD$600-700.

Telephoto lenses

Nikon 80-200mm F2.8. This lens is another no-brainer. Excellent photo quality and can be used for general sports photography, landscapes and for portraits. The only reason not to get this lens is because of its weight (about 1.5kg) and size. But unless you are going somewhere that has stuff like whale watching on the agenda, the 200mm reach will not be needed much. I guarantee that you WILL NOT bring this on your travels unless the trip is purely for photography. You can get this for around SGD$1350 new.
Nikon 105mm F2.8 Micro. This is one of my most favorite of lenses and a must have in my opinion in any Nikon shooter's bags. Great for double duty as a macro lens for all those excellent eBay product shots and also for portraits - don't believe what you hear about this lens being too sharp for portraits... what are these people saying, are they nuts? These people are dumb pixel watchers and silly nit-pickers... Get it new for about SGD$800.

In total, these lenses will bust the budget slightly at around SGD$5300+ but it will serve you well until your wallet recovers. For people with larger wallets, you might consider adding a 85mm F1.8 or a 300mm f4 lens (for birding). After all, you do need to save up for that fancy Gitzo CF tripod with Markins ballhead right??! :)

My new, err old PAM 104

2006-02-24T00:19:00.000-08:00

What a watch! Have been contemplating getting an automatic Panerai or a Rolex Submariner for a long time but after comparing the two - the PAM looked cooler, simpler and much much larger! Getting it second hand from the Paneristi Forum made much more sense as well. Going with the trend of large watches, I guess anything smaller than 40mm is really passe. Anyway, even being such a large watch, it still feels more comfortable than a smaller Rolex. Looking forward to some straps soon... maybe a brown tan strap with a tang buckle... should be slightly easier to put on than the existing deployant buckle ;)

Choking in Golf

2006-02-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

Just watched the dubai tournament with tiger winning over ernie in a playoff. hardly nail biting. ernie choked on the drive and hit it into trouble. after that it was painfully obvious who would win the tournament.

it is also obvious that the person with the stronger mind will win most of the times. same for tennis and other sports. its all a mind game. tiger was not hitting the ball well all tournament but he gutted it out and made the shot when it matters. worst thing about it was the reaction from ernie - apparently second place was good enough for him and he was satisfied with his performance. geez..

UPDATE .. Latest Nikon setup

2006-01-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months I have been using the following nikon setup - a 1980s FE and F3 + motordrive, a F100 with batt grip, and most lately a digital SLR D70. Yes, the F80 is gone, sold off to a new owner. Much of my shooting have still been using film although I have been moving slowly to digital.

This shot was taken using my latest purchase - a Canon A610 - the first Canon I have bought ever since my much maligned EOS 700 which I gave away in disgust some years back ;)

Toyota Harrier.. long term drive

2005-11-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

After owning this baby for one year.. some thoughts..

Build quality - Top notch.. although the paintwork is rather thin.. super quiet inside as well. The pano roof is very cool.. Harry loves it! Opticron gauges are cool.

Engine - very very smooth, although it struggles when pulling a car that weighs nearly 1.5 ton. Needs an extra gear - surprisingly it only has 4 forward gears. Hardly use the tiptronic, except for dropping a gear from third to second sometimes for extra pulling power for overtaking ... although cannot compare to a 6 cyl. Comparing this 2.4l engine with a Corolla's engine or another makes 1.6l engine is like night and day!

Drivability/handling - Despite reviews that it handles like a car (who are these idiots who say this!?), the handling cannot be compared to a non-SUV because of the high ride height and CG. You cannot corner aggressively with this car! Everytime you corner, u can feel the tall tire walls flexing... ok, slight exaggeration here.. however, ride comfort is excellent and the tall riding position cannot be beaten.. the view up here is great!

Practicality - this car is super practical - it can carry a ton of stuff, large items as well if you fold the rear seats. Easy to park and drive. Fuel consumption is pretty good for such a heavy car... we manage to get 9km per litre on average..

UPDATE in 2006 - Batteries died within 1.5 yrs... consequence of all those little lights inthe cabin.. after changing to Michelin tires.. the ride and handling of the Harrier has improved dramatically.. cornering, ride comfort and general confidence has improved... beware the stock Goodyears from the factory!

My baby on zero wheels during her tire change at SE...

VW GTI MARK V ...tested in 2005

2005-10-06T02:10:00.000-07:00

The more i look at this baby, the better it gets... for what its worth, i think it looks best in white which was what my old mk2 was in... it is waaay better than the mk4, which we had also..

My thoughts about the best parts about this car after a test drive - 200bhp engine is a dream with enough power and handling to drive like a rally driver AND with the refinement to drive like the 1.6l golf. interior is really nice but feels a bit cramped in all black. the highlight of the interior has to be the steering wheel with the neat cutoff at 6 oclock. time to start saving my pennies...

Best color for the car: White

Nikon Setup

2005-09-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

i have added to my original set of equipment. now have 11 lenses and i think thats prob the end of the lens collection for the time being. am going to be a father soon!! so need to save funds for buying more practical stuff like child seats ;) also pampers! did you know that a baby goes through an average of 8 pampers a day? going by that calculation, that is nearly 250 pieces of pampers a month! well anyway, back to nikon...

my present collection is like this:
bodies - nikon d70, f80, fe
lenses - wide > 12-24dx, 24mm, 35mm
- mid > 18-70, 24-85, 24-120, 50mm
- tele > 70-210, 80-400mm, 100mm
- macro > 105mm
pns - olympus mju-1 35mm, mju-2 35-80mm

i know i know, that is a lot of equipment... but NAS is striking and i want a f100 and a fm3a. figure i can get rid of the f80 after getting the f100. the fm3a is more becos i love manual nikon bodies... i dropped my fe (:....) and nothing more than a few nicks and scratces! these cameras are strong... i also would love to get a mint f3hp but the prices people are quoting are crazy... i tried out some guy's f3hp with md4 and it was like ... WHOA. the sound of the motor drive is fantastic.. but should i get it because of that? this combi weighs a ton also.... maybe get a md-12 and see how it goes first...

Edit.. the F80 is gone.. replaced with F100. will miss one of the softest SLR shutter releases...

Naim Nait 5

2005-08-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Hi, I am back after a long break... nearly 1 year actually!

I have changed my hifi setup to a Naim Nait 5 and B&W 705 (was considering Epos M12..) setup... sound is great and much more refined compared to my old rotel setup. highly recommend this combi for everyone.. i just changed to naim naca speaker cables as well which made a large difference as well. now the problem is finding more nice music to listen to. my fav music now is james blunt's "you're beautiful" and also simple plan's "perfect"... great music to calm down after a long day staring at the pc.. if anybody has any suggestions for music let me know..

Lowepro Stealth Reporter 200AW Review

2005-07-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

Few photo companies make better products that are used real photographers than Lowepro. They also listen to their customers - when I complained that their old website had too few pics, they added tons of pics in their new website with different views of the product. Other cos, like Crumpler, are fad products that look good but fade away fast as they are just not usable in the field. I really dont like Crumpler's websites as well. Look at my previous post to see why I sold my Crumpler.

What is a Stealth Reporter (im gonna call it SR from now on) you may ask? Its a stealthy bag that is typically used by reporters since it is so light and fits in so much gear. ok, it is fairly obvious that this is a camera bag, but it doesnt scream - steal me like a Crumpler (to crumpler addicts - cmon guys, stop kidding yourself - it is fairly obvious a crumpler is a camera bag carried by a loaded person). The AW designation means this bag is All Weather and comes with a light grey (hmm 18% grey??) rain proof cover that can at least make sure your gear stays dry until u sprint to the nearest cover.

My SR is the 200 version - its the middle brother in the series - there is a 100, 300, and 400 as well. Its a nice size for a shoulder bag - you can fit in a decent amount of gear - i can fit a single SLR (e.g. D70 with 12-24mm), a spare lens (85mm or 50mm), flash (SB800 or 22s), blower and mini tripod. any more and my shoulder would hurt anyway. The SR is a fairly secure bag. The top flap is fastened to the bag using a single plastic qliklock so it is fast and quiet to take your gear in and out. the middle of the top flap has a zipper so you can reach in and grab your gear wo opening the flap. I dont use this feature as the opening is rather small on the 200 model. The SR comes with a nice shoulder strap and and is lightly padded - there are the usual foam dividers in the bag to partition your gear. The foam isnt as thick as Crumpler but it is adequate and the advantage is you can squeeze more stuff inside compared to crumplers.

Nikon FE SLR

2005-04-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

The old fogeys amongst us will sometimes venture into manual SLRs and being gadget freaks, will ask, what is the best manual SLR to start with? For starters, most people will say the Nikon FM2 - "it operates without batteries" they say. Some would recommend the Nikon EM - this is pretty cheap and dandy. The richer folk would say - get the FM3A - but at USD800 for a used copy, this isn't a cheap option. Not me, I would tell you to get a FE.

The Nikon FE is the forgotten cousin of the Nikon FM/FM2.

It was launched in 1978 and it is much cheaper than any version of the FM2 or FE2 that you can find in the used camera market today.

Most people snap up FM2s because of the Titanium shutter (FM2n) and the ability to work without a battery. However, they forget one thing, metering is lost without a battery. Which is where the Nikon FE comes in. This is a camera that is the equivalent of the FM2 when a battery is inserted. With the battery removed, the FE is only capable of shooting in M90 mode - which means it can be triggered with a shutter speed of 1/90s. Not perfect, but good in a pinch. The Nikon FE uses 2xLR44 batt.

I bought my 2 FEs (one black, one chrome) at a bargain basement price of 120+ US dollars each a couple of years ago.

They work perfectly even though both are around 25 yrs old and I suspect they will keep on running longer than me.

The best thing about the FE is that it is an SLR that is pocketable and the feel of using one is magical. It reminds one in this digital age what it means to BE a photographer. To slow down, compose, to meter carefully, hold your breath and squeeze the shutter release oh so gently to get the shot. Now how many DSLR owners do that nowadays? Most shoot in blazing 5FPS in full auto mode.. And the sound of that shutter... utterly mechanical in nature with a nice solid "click". Not a uninspiring "thack" that I heard while using my colleague's Canon 30D.

The bad thing about the FE is that is uses film.

Oh, not the loading part. Loading a roll of film is an incredibly satisfying experience. It feels the same as loading a gun (or a PEZ dispenser) in some ways. Popping a can of film, you get a whiff of the film chemicals which is familiar and organic in a way. You have then to pop the film back of the FE, insert the film canister and insert the film leader into a slot of the camera's takeup spool making sure the sprockets align. You then close the film back, set the film ISO using the ISO dial and you are ready to go. Fire off a few frames (make sure you choose a fast shutter speed like 1/125s) until the avail frames display shows "0".

Rather, its the fact that developing film requires you to go to the store for processing and most people would get a 4R printout (matt or glossy, ma'am?). The resulting printout reflects how that store calibrates their equipment and unfortunately, some are WAY off in their calibration. This means color casts, reds that are too red and greens that are artificial. The papers that these shops use make a difference as well. I would recommend all film users to get their store to just process the film and scan the negatives/positives through a proper film scanner. Once the photos are scanned, treat them in the same way as your digital images. Of course, all this takes time but then, whats time when you want to appreciate photos and color and light?

Rotel RA-02 and CD-02

2004-11-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

For audiophiles in the know.. you will always have a period of time where you have 2 sets of equipment.

For me, the Rotel RA-02 and CD-02 were my stopgap amp and cd player of choice pre-Naim. For the price, they are rock solid and are more suited for pop, and rock music.

Update...
I paired them with my Bose Acoustimass 5 for a while, Bose CMI.. seriously. When I got my B&W 600 series (very briefly), I swapped in a Naim 5 and the Rotel quickly got sold off...

Budget Hifi choices

2004-08-25T01:41:00.000-07:00

Wanna get a new hifi, i kinda like nad for a long time so decided to use nad parts

Thinking of the following -

cdplayer - nad 542 or 521bee or 513
amp - nad c350 or c320bee
speakers - b&w 602 or kef q1 or monitor audio b2
cables - qed
interconnects - qed or van der hull or kimber

Nikon lens choices

2004-08-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

Some of my thoughts on Nikon lens choices for a ....

Film based SLR

street photography - 50D f1.8, 85D f1.8
general - 28-105D, 24-85G
primes - 24, 50, 105

recommended set - 24-85 f3.5-4.5G, 80-200 f2.8D, 50mm f1.8D, kenko teleplus pro 2x, close-up filter set.

Digital SLR

recommended set - 18-70 f3.5-4.5G, 80-200 f2.8D, 50mm f1.8D, kenko teleplus pro 2x, close-up filter set.

Trip to the Singapore Zoo

2004-06-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

It was hot! a bit of breeze made it slightly bearable. what wasnt so bearable were the tons of screaming kids everywhere. the animals were tolerating the heat ok.. however, i was more than slightly disappointed in the zoo which had not changed much for the better over the last few years since i visited.

It seems that the administration are pretty much content on what they have so far. Another negative point was that a lot of the animals have been "transferred" to the more lucrative part of the zoo - the so called night safari. lastly, i still question why animals who clearly dont belong in the tropic heat are kept here e.g. the polar bear and the penguins. All in all, i dont think i will be visiting any time soon.

Tried out my new old 70-210mm.. CMI unless you are on a tripod or monopod.. lens blur.

UPDATE in 2006 Oct - we joined Friends of the Zoo bcos of Harry... looks like more zoo going this year!

Favorite places to eat in Singapore

2004-06-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

We eat out quite a lot (lecheh to cook for 2 pp lah!) so here's a small listing of some nice hawker food i have tried and like in singapore

noodles/bee hoon

prawn noodles at adam rd
hokkien mee at newton circus or smu
fried kuay teow at west coast rd/zion rd/bukit merah
porridge at zion rd
bar chor mee at bedok north
lor mee at upper circular road
wan tan mee at novena food court
soya sauce chicken at ghim moh
satay bee hoon at chomp chomp/east coast center
vegetarian bee hoon at thomson/maxwell
fried fish noodle soup at bukit merah
dry chili mee pok at tiong bahru
beef hor fun at balestier coffee shop/geylang (opposite 24h you tiao)
kl style black hokkien mee at west coast rd coffee shop
slice white fish hor fun at killeney coffee shop/west coast rd opp ginza
ban mee at toa payoh coffee shop
mee rebus at revenue house/adam rd
laksa at katong

rice/porridge

fish porridge at newton circus
nasi lemak at adam road/changi village hawker/jackies bowl east coast
chicken rice at boon tong kee
claypot chicken at clementi
bat kut teh at balestier
curry rice at tiong bahru
congee at zion rd hawker
duck rice at yu kee franchise
nasi padang at katong coffee shop

others

chicken chop/cutlet at west coast hawker center
toasted bread with kaya at novena food court
chinese rojak at toa payoh blk 177
yam cake at chinatown hawker center
roti prata at thomson rd
pot stickers at people's park
bbq chicken wings at bedok north
"normal" yong tau foo at revenue house
fried/ampang yong tau foo at meridien/siglap/ghim moh
chui kuey at tiong bahru/bedok central
popiah at lavendar food square
curry fish head at muthus at racecourse or at jackies bowl east coast
fried carrot cake at bedok central hawker

dessert

glutinous rice balls in peanut soup at ghim moh/bukit merah
yu tiao, shao ping, bean curd at geylang 24hr place
goreng pisang at toa payoh coffee shop
ham chim peng at margaret drive/ghim moh
bean curd at rochor beancurd

drinks

teh alia at taj mahal at adam rd

Crumpler Budgie Smuggler mini review

2004-06-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

Just got back from my short trip to bali, great trip stayed in the bali hilton and travelled to ubud, the mountain areas. decided to post a short review of the crumpler budgie smuggler for a Nikon D70 user..

Capacity
=============
- the main compartment has just enough space for a D70 (or a similar sized non-pro SLR w/o vert grip) with kit lens plus one compact lens
- slightly longer than kit lens OR a flash. in my case, i divided the bag into 2 carrying a D70 (sideways with the grip facing up) plus an olympus mju film p&s with a beanbag on top
- the compartments are very accessible as compared to a backpack model. i found it easy to pull the cam out of the bag while moving..
- the front compartment can store about 5-6 rolls of film, or a PDA + filters..
- other compartment is under the front flap and can be used to hold your memory cards and such but is too thin to hold anything else! - crumpler provided 2 reasonably thick internal dividers (with velcro) but i only used one

Handling and cosmetics
==================
- the bag is made of a tough nylon material and feels rather boxy when carrying it with heavy padding. the specs say its waterproof but thankfully i did not have to verify this!! however, it might not be as weather-proof as the lowepro series with its AW slip on nylon cover...
- the shoulder strap is wide and has comfortable shoulder padding
- there are two straps (hooks?) on either side of the bag presumably to hook other pouches
- i think the bag looks great compared to other makes!!

Other remarks
==================
- the budgie smuggler is ideal if you want to travel light. however if you normally carry more than 2 lenses with a flash or binocs or tripod. you might want to go with larger "messenger-style" models e.g. crumpler 15 love or lowepro specialist aw 100/200
- if you carry more than that it might be advisable to carry a backpack style model e.g. crumpler formal lounge, shrinkle, farmers double etc or lowepro mini-trekker range, unless you have a iron-clad shoulder!

hope you guys like this mini review!

update from 2007- i have sold my budgie smuggler and replaced it with a lowepro sr 200aw. it was a great bag, and i loved the looks, but i just couldnt stand the sound of velcro ripping everytime i had to get the camera out and i was always worried about it in the rain. crumplers are getting too popular with the wrong type of people also... :)

Nikon D70 DSLR

2004-06-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

After so long.. and disposing of my c5060, I got a new d70 today. super excited... from what it looks the cam is a blast. Excellent battery life with over 500 shots per charge, and fast shooting makes a large difference from my previous cams.

It comes with a 18-70mm lens.. with the d70's 1.5x multiplier it will be 28-105.. same as my old c5060.. which i sometimes miss bcos of its handiness. It just felt good in the hand. my plan next is to get a longer tele zoom..

UPDATE on 13 may-> i got a 70-210 lens to go with the d70. also a ir remote and some cleaning equipment

Olympus c5060wz

2004-06-01T02:54:00.000-07:00

I loved this camera. The feel (solidly built magnesium allow shell), swivel LCD, the size, flash hot shoe, great battery life (BLM-1) and the 28mm wide angle capability made it a unique product that hasnt been matched.

Unfortunately, it had some shortcomings - namely, the slow AF, not so great noise handling and the really weird UI.

For a great review on the c5060 and its predessor the c5050, check out Andrzej Wrotniak's great site at http://wrotniak.com/photo/c-wz/index.html.

My first post

2004-06-01T02:11:00.000-07:00

Feeling real bored today so here goes... my first blog!