Back to Work

The first few days have been a rollercoaster of sorts. When I sent out my “out of office” notice last week I received a call from my CEO who was expecting to speak to me the following week when he was in Singapore regarding a job change; “a promotion” he called it. First off, I was surprised he called me as it was the first time he did that, on my direct line, and next was this promotion. I knew it was a spin off something else but I was happy to be singled out for it. Praise God for His favor.

But honestly who does that!??? Dropping a bomb like that just when you are about to go on a much needed holiday. Its seems almost sadistic. You guys might be thinking, eh promotion, what is there to be worried about? Well I did say it was “a spin” so it was not that straightforward, sometimes it never is.

So I tried as much as possible to block this “promotion” out of my mind when I was in the Maldives but it kept creeping in till my wife said “"Ok, lets talk it out”. Smart woman that one. The thoughts did plague me a few times after our discussion but the draw of the island was too great.

So now that I am back to work, the usual stuffs hitting the fan and there is so much to do and as expected “the spin” is on maximum load. For me the maintenance of sanity is key in these trying times. Thank God, for my support structure of my wife, friend and God. But what has kept me sane other than this are the fading memories of Maldives which have been immortalized in the pictures I have captured. Here is one of my favorites in HDR:

 

 

Imagine this vision in front of you as you lie on a four poster bed, with a good book in your hands. An endless soundtrack of crashing waves is playing in the background with some Mozart or Norah Jones on top playing on CD just for an additional mood.

The gentle warm sea breeze is wafting in your open villa door but its cool inside thanks to air conditioning. The love of your life is next to you and this vision of a lifetime in front of you…….

Ahhhhhh…….I am relaxed now…are you? How can you not be!

M still sane.

Obituary: End of an Era

I regret to inform you that my beloved Anusi has died. After 10 years of service, she has dried her last piece of clothes. Her demise was on 4th of April 2009 though we felt that she needed a good rest so we left her but she was unrevivable. Yes, she was my one and only Zanussi dryer.

Eulogy She had a good and stable life and has brought joy into two separate homes. She was heavily used and at times abused. Worked more than she was designed to be worked and some days she has worked through the night. Each time without fail she has produced dried clothes and linens, faultlessly except for the rug incident which was not really her fault. Come on guys, Read the Wash and Care Instructions! Overall all I am really pleased with her and when she passed I felt a part of me go. I know that she will not want me to be without a dryer, as such I have brought a predecessor to carry on her legacy. Let’s hope the new addition can live up to the high standard that Anusi has set. Farewell Anusi, as you make your way to the Dryer Heaven, to be with your people and stand proud among them with the knowledge you have made a difference.

I know all this sounds a little over the top but in context it will not. What time dryer represents to me is financial freedom. Freedom from the reliance of my parents’ money, that is. This was a first “big ticket” item that I purchased with my first ever paycheck. But not to be limited to that, but it also represented the unleashing of the Laundry Nazi in me. Yes you heard me, and I think the time has come for a dedicated Laundry Nazi post (akan datang).  For now let’s take some time to reflect on those who have gone ahead to great big cloud in the sky.

M

Mourning.

365 Photos - February

It has been a busy month and trying to get a photo in a day has been hard but somehow I managed to with a little bit of "cheating"



In case you are wondering what I am talking mosy on down to 365 Photos. March is up!

M

Lunch Mission

Since this week has been delightfully no very busy, I have been able to get a lot of my backlog completed. So today since I did not have any meeting encroaching into lunch time or any after, I decided to take some steps towards Skinny Ambition. With my good workout this morning, I thought that I need to get my stuff in order for my Saturday morning bike ride.

So I went on the Net found a bike shop near by and headed completely in spontaneous fashion. I was like a man on a mission weaving through traffic so that I can maximise my time the shop and get back to office without missing too many beats.

Treknology Bikes 3 located near Henry Park School was the place to be this Thursday afternoon. Found the shop being run by Indians which was a good thing from there it was easy to make friends with the “bikeshop guy”.

Here is a the list of my spoils:

Saris Sentinel 3-Bike Trunk Mount Rack

Trek Interval Helmet

Lastly a Cateye Strada Wireless Cycle Computer.

So I managed to get most of the things except the padded tights because there was no size. Oh well, another time perhaps. All in all, a pretty successful trip out. Now for some healthy lunch and believe it or not I found it as a matter of chance. Next post ya...now time to get back to the beat!

M ready

365 Update - January

It was not as easy as expected but I managed to complete the first month and here are the results.



In case you are wondering what I am talking mosy on down to 365 Photos. February here we come!

M

Evolution of a Perfect Picture

Yesterday was an interesting evening. The task at hand was to take pictures of new dishes for Yellow Light's Chinese New Year menu. Normally, I only do photos in the daylight but since time was on our side we decided to do it after work. To be honest I was not optimistic because knowing the lighting in the restaurant and the fact that I do not have a flash I knew the pictures were going to be sub standard. But thanks to Mr and Mrs Wong, who lent me their flash the evening efforts turned out differently.

Together with the help of the wife, and the owners Wan Ling and Shih Erh, we managed to pull something together that we can be proud of. Well this is the behind the scenes look but in front of the camera the chronological evolution of a picture from set up to final image was truly astounding.

M Flashed

365 Photos - Part 2

OK, I guess my "analness" and my need to keep things neat and separate have gotten the better of me. So as not to "pollute" my blog I have created another blog dedicated specially to 365 Photos.



Updates will also show up in My Blog List on the right of the screen. So please do have a see when you have the time and do comment if you please. You'll never know when and if YOU will be featured.

M phewwed.

365 Photos

The original intention of starting this blog was to post my pictures and showcase them, but somehow along the way this point got little lost and my usual long windedness and my typical Indian bullshit have risen to the surface. This can be seen with the long and wordy blog posts of recent. Most of these blog posts are done via my iPhone, believe it or not, and since uploading pictures requires a computer or laptop, I often get lazy and end up not posting any pictures. Do not get me wrong I love all my blog posts and it so therapeutic for me, I think I will still continue with the wordy Indian bullshit. BUT, in an effort to put up more pictures, I have decided to take the Project 365 challenge.

What it is is to put a blog post of a picture taken each day. These pictures do not need to be of excellent photographic quality but more importantly to me is to capture this wonderful year in pictures. Let me put it this way, it is said that when a person dies, their life flashes in front of them. Too me this is an amazing feeling, ahem, the life flashing part lah not the dying ya. So rather than wait for that to happen why not do it now with a photo a day.

So here goes!

PS: I would like to thank Emily Chow, whose blog I was randomly reading at 5 am this morning and her shyed drive to get this started, got me inspired to make this happen.

Random Image #3

The other night while at YTM's I couldn't resist taking a favourite type of shot of mine; the long exposure shot. This shot was a 10 second exposure, and with that I was able to capture the sporadic trailing lights on the CTE and the luminescence of the evening.

What makes this picture special though are the clouds. It gives that sense of movement, and with the long exposure and the fact that the clouds were indeed streaking across the sky gives this magical effect of the world at standstill while the clouds and sky are in constant motion.

Not bad for a Samsung eh.

M

Pickled

This is a post that was concieved for long time but I would only post it once I got myself a good picture, and I think I managed to get a good one in. This bottle of pickled vegetables are a birthday gift from Shih Erh a good friend and a fellow blogger.

I was rather surprised when I recieved this because I love these sort of bottled pickled veges or fruits because they are really pretty and they unusually dress up any table. So first surprise was how she knew, cause even the wife did not know, must have been coincidence or just good taste. But I was more surprised to learn that this was indeed edible, making it even more worth while. So as we devour these pickled delights, thanks to Shhhhh for this wonderful gift.

M pickled

Kwok Yuen & Wan Ling's Wedding Picks

So here is something new that I am trying out. Have a see. There are the first proper shots from the 50D with some editing more to recreate the mood.

M joy.

Where art thou Squirrel

So today on my walk I was trying a few things out. Note this is actually my first time in a long time with a DSLR camera so my hands was becoming a little shaky from the weight but that is temporary. Of course with the "odds" against me I tried to be a NatGeo photographer and try to capture some "wildlife" shots. Here are the results



Aiya, missed the money shot!!



He is posturing... getting ready, aiya didn't set to high speed shooting. Doh!



This one the best, there one second gone the next. At this point of reviewing my pictures I was laughing at myself. Here is a guy, who in the morning on the way to work decides to take some "test shots" with the new camera. So I quickly get out my camera bag and start to pull equipment out from the dry cabinet. So with the work getup (ok casual friday not so bad), I decide to take a walk in the nearby Kent Ridge park and before you know it I am trying to snap these squirrels much to the amusement of the aunties and uncles with their grandkids out for a morning stroll.

So how did YOU start your day today?

M laughing @ self.

Random Image #2

First of many from the 50, this one was one of the first pictures I took this morning. Actually the 4th to be honest and I am quite pleased with the result and contrasting colors. What is probably not evident because Blogger puts images with crappy resolution is that there is an ant on the leaf to the bottom left and a ladybird on the flower to the bottom right (to see more clearly click the image for a larger view) .

M

Random Image #1

Over the years I have collected many random images that I shoot with my camera or my phone or whatever device that I have on me. The goal is the capture interesting and unusual images to share with my legion of fans. Moreover, since I initially wanted to start a photo blog, this sort of makes up for that initial idea.

So here it the first installment, I will from now on be sharing predominately new images not old ones, unless I find something really special.

Enjoy M

More blokes

Rebellion well perhaps. India is the best place for portraiture photography. But I have seen a lost of the innocence and the greater awareness to the surroundings. Five years ago they will be rushing to you to have their photos taken, now apparently they'll beat you up for fear they will morph their heads onto some obscene pictures.

Sorry lah..not my kinda thing...

M photo

White Boats

This one is rather special with some light editing.
Simple subject yet very poignant or maybe it’s just me but I liked it.
Even before I snapped it I saw the image in my head and felt it was going to be special.

In the sky

This one is a rather unusual picture.
Feels a little eerie no?
Not sure why it evokes that emotion in me.

What you think?

Don't take pictures of people

What?? But that is what I do best and my love of photography comes from the fact that I can capture people when in their natural elements basically being themselves and going about their own business. Did I listen?? Well eventually but this was taken before I was warned. Perhaps not my favourite but one that I like a lot. Sometimes the best shots are the ones that looked posed but are not.

M

Back in Hinjewadi

As the week starts we are back in Hinjewadi, which is where our Tech Park and our partner's office is located. This IT Park is the first of 3 phases were some ultra modern and stunning building housing 1000s, yes 1000s, of engineers. This being a relatively new place there is still quite a bit of development required so the usual contrast still exists where you see country against modernism. Another good thing is that my trip is at its tail end and I am looking forward to going home.

To make things worse, we had to make some last minute changes and are now waitlisted on the ideal flight and confirmed on the not so. Oh well the joys of business travel.

M waitlisted

St Laurn Suites

I have to say that this hotel, or service apartment is more than what I expected. As always, the outside part of the hotel and the inside part are worlds apart. But this hotel is quite far out. If you look carefully, behind the bed is a transparent wardrode which has the bathroom and toilets behind it. The left corner picture is the entrance way to the bathroom. Top right corner is the kitchen with bar counter in foreground. What's missing is the couch and coffee table - it's there but I didn't take a picture of it. Bottom right is the swanky lobby. Not my idea of an Indian hotel. Impressed.

M white out.