I am glad the auditors are finally leaving. Of course they had left out more homework for us all. Some remedial works. But on the whole, I am glad it is all over.

I do not know how others take their problems and stresses in life but well, I always have this feeling that God has been watching over me and my problems aren't actually the biggest. Sometimes I wished I could pinpoint for sure how all these happened over the last decade, but looking back, memories of some of the near-fatal incidences had frightened myself.

I can still recall one incident while I was driving a landrover up a mountain pass during my army stint in Taiwan. When you drive uphill, you cannot see the road in front of your windscreen. You really look into the sky! When you go downslope, you must not brake suddenly. What makes this kind of driving insane is that the mountain routes aren't straight. They can turn left and right even if you are driving in a certain direction and the roads are marked with potholes you have to try avoid driving your wheels over. To make a long story short, the vehicle I drove nearly went down a cliff! It had one of its front wheeel hanging in the air.

Something Worth Sharing

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

~ T. Harv Eker

Circle Game

"Yesterday a child came out to wander
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
Fearful at the falling of a star
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captives on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game."

My favourite song still. Time really flies so fast. This week, I had been asked to show a few JC students around the department and let them have a glimpse of what radiography/radiology is like. As I walked with them, there was a feeling of nostalgia inside me... Time really flew! When was the last time I was mugging for my exams? A&P, Equipment, KC Clark's Positioning and Radiographic Techniques, and of course, Chesney's book on Processing!! And good o' Mr Chin also.... Thinking back, I must thank him. In a way, I turned out ok partly becos of him. I could have gone in to do Physiotherapy. Or chiro... and maybe living somewhere with an angmoh by now somewhere in US or Canada. Who knows.

Anyway.... I think this is the 49th (???) Saturday that I have both been looking forward to and dreading it at the same time. Same for Christmas. I wish time would stand still someday for me! And I could live all my life within that moment!! If I had that power to hold down Time anytime, I could live my life many times over. Alas, I can't. So, I thought I better do blogs ..... and I think the digital me would last much longer.
How about it, the author could have died many years ago and we could be reading his works and feeling him around as if he is still alive and kicking today.

The only BIG reason I blog today is becos I feel that time is too short. The clock ticks so fast. By the time I am donw iwht this page, it will probably be time to lie down and hopefully, sleep. Can't do much. A few years ago, I would hang out around my favourite places, like JB (Jalan Besar), Sim Lim, Peninsula Plaza. Some years earlier, I would be hanging out around Borders, or Pulau Ubin, or Tampines Mall, or Katong/Parkway. I was never a "Orchard kid" even though I did stay with my cousins who used to live right next to Orchard Cineleisure. Can still remember the poor security officer coming to complain to my aunt concerning her son.... haha. When we were kids the stretch from CK Tang or Scots down to Cathay would be our "playground". Califronia Fitness wasn't around then. We would walk down that road towards the community centre opposite Meridien for our hapkido lessons. During the weekends, we would be playing sliding down the slopes behind the then-known as "Mandarin" Hotel.

We have mellowed down alot by now. Don't know what my cousins and old schoolfriends are all doing now, but here I am, Blogging. But I am blogging mainly for myself, some of my closer friends, and also my family, becos one day, who knows, I might use "opayasom" for my CV upstairs (hopefully). haha.. yea, I am bad. But my friend used to encourage me, "Good kid, bad kid, still a kid." When I was small, I was the kind of kid that needed more caning and knocks on the head. Funny, my teachers liked me. Especially the ones who were known to be fierce... This is still a puzzle to me.

I am blogging from my own recollections for my future recall. Someday, it might be a cure for my amnesia. Or for my good friends who might someday find the time to read. I hope these will last longer than my human existence... and as long as anyone would like to have me remembered by. Basically, I do not mind being stored in someone's CD collections or harddisk. In the near future, I am hoping to include a photoblog site as well so that I could save more words. Still trying to organise my collections. But I guess writing is easier than uploading images... becos, I can write nonsense and post them. With images, one tends to be more picky, as if there is a need to impress or a need to avoid lawsuits .... and so one would choose photos carefully. etc etc. Just my thought.

I am sad because time really pass so fast. Wish I could one day slow the carousel down... I do not wish to live forever... but I do not wish to lose anyone I love. To me, there is no point living forever if you have to live without the ones you love.

Nikon D300

Got myself a few CDs this evening. You probably won't understand it but I like Indian/Hindi/Punjabi music. A lot... Asian Club Night, Bumbay Nights, etc. I find percussion and rythmic vocals very interesting... the kind that you would also tend to feel if you stand on the Salsa floor. Used to like new age like Polar Shift, etc.... but strange tho, the music I tend to like now seem to be getting more and more upbeat....

Anyway, my friend has just bought the D300!!! $2700. The gadget is really SOMETHING! Very tempted to sell off all my sets and convert to this one. How much can my D50+lens fetch? How about adding on my Sony DSC828? Still at least $700 short to even get the body. But then, among its features, it can go beyond ISO 3200! Maybe that's for those who would like to shoot in the dark (without flash). Perhaps I should focus on my D50 for a while more and wait till the price drops some more...

dairy of a scattered-brain

Going to take up an exam by the end of this month ... But I haven't had time to really get down to studying yet!! I am grateful to Fenella for her encouragements. Maybe I should just give it a shot and see how it goes. Who knows, this could really be a new me in the making.

Signed up for some courses over the past 2 months on my own. (I do feel bad about lettinng Dr Jurgen down.... but I promise I MUST get back on my feet.) I tend to get drifted away to another project before the first one is really completed. Must handle my time-management very well or else, what actually gives will have to be those that I need to put into practise. So, as the saying goes, "all theories but no practise .... " I am a slow learner. The things taught to me need time to simmer and slowly sink in... I think I do have a good memory (sometimes - haha) but let me explain why I think so about my kind of "memory".

Sometimes, when you look back, you suddenly get to realise some of the old lessons that have been taught to you long ago and now you feel you finally understood them in practical forms. Maybe I could have sort of 4-compartment brain ...:) like the cows. Still, you might think that means I am dumb. Whatever... slow I learn, that is, and you are also entitled to your views about me.

Anyway the sit-in lessons from the gurus have been really great and I can say I have learnt a lot. Now I think I can say that I can comprehend GREEKS if someone would care to teach me more about it!!!

Phillip has just returned from Egypt. Haven't got to see his travel shots. Especially of a weird Kuwaiti man and the 3 German Spice Girls. Wish I could do travel shots one day too. Perhaps next weekend, I shall test out the new lens I got last week. Tamron 2.8. My next one (for Christmas : a telezoom piece with an IS and 2.8 or 3.5). Now, FIND MONEY!

Will have to ask someone to help me with my namecards .. :)

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the economy of the heart...

Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits."

~ Hannah Moore

Sometimes it is harder to forget than to forgive... that's probably going to be some kind of a dilemma.

10 Aristotlean Virtues of Leadership

The 10 Aristotlean virtues of leadership (by philosopher and author Tom Morris):


1. Courage
2. Temperance
3. Liberality
4. Magnificence
5. Pride
6. Good temper
7. Friendliness
8. Truthfulness
9. Wittiness
10. Justice


hmmm...

A new course is starting next week and I suddenly realised how far behind I am in catching up with my research. :( Better hurry.

Had just heard from a friend that another nursing friend of mine is now critically ill with acute liver failure. Kind of sad for her because she is still young and active. She is kindhearted. Sad it happens to her and her family. I am not comfortable whenever I see people taking chinese medicine. Heard that she had been on it for sometime before she went UK. Now I wonder how...

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Life is really full of setbacks and pitfalls.... it is like walking through the forest.
Not everyone can make it through to the other side but the funny thing is that not everyone seems bothered or concerned enough. They go on their ways bitching and backstabbing... but we just don't understand why some good people must suffer and yet some other people seem to have an enjoyable time creating hell for everybody else (people they don't like).

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MC

I'm on MC today. Bodyaches and generalised weaknesss... My fever seemed to have subsided but the cough from post-nasal drip still happens. Neck is stiff and occasional bouts of sneezing caused me to perspire. Probably that's the cause of my bodyache.

I am still working from home. In fact it feels far better this way, because the airconditioning was TERRIBLE! I wonder who designed the systems, providing us with a central airconditioning system that cannot be tuned down.

My good friend is now somewhere in Egypt riding on camels I supposed. Hope he gets good photos. 4 weeks!!!

How's that? Try this everyday for 15min or 1-0.5-1 min.

Breathe in and out... steady. And Focus....

A gifted photographer

Hi, if you would like to see great mastery in photography (especially wildlife and traveloques), go to CSLINGPHOTOGRAPHY.

She is a young but very talented photographer. I believe she has probably already achieved her dream-job. I wish I could do something like this too. But alas, I lack the skills AND the guts.

It's embarrassing if you think about it, why I don't dare give up this career and just pack up and live life on free air and sunshine.

Another person's photoblogs you must see, if you can still find it, used to be named "PANGALLERIES". She was a thai in her early twenties. She had won a few medals at the Thai national photography contests and you have probably seen some of her shots on National Geographic. While she travelled to take those shots, she also used to buy handbags, and perfumes, from different countries and re-sell back home. She told me she was a businesswoman in that respect.

Hope you find her blogs for me because I have not been able to locate her galleries for sometime already. (Probably married.) Hehe!

My Imagini DNA

Mood: Dreamer
You're a bit of a romantic and like to get back to basics. The expanse of the wilderness is inspiring and you like landscapes that make you feel calm. When it comes to art, you appreciate natural beauty. You take time to soak up the nature, favouring the coastline and countryside to the city galeries. As for music, it's the soundtrack to the world. You've got to grips with downloading and your mp3 is at hand. It gives you focus and concentration - you might find it hard to switch off. Your choice of treat reveals that simple pleasures make your day, there's nothing quite like a cuppa. Easily pleased.

Fun : Conqueror
You love to be far away from your everyday life. You love the sun and like to live life at a slower pace than most - you know how to take things nice and easy! For kicks nothing beats an adrenalin rush. You like to take risk and push limits. You're confident and brave - life is for the living. When it comes to holidays, there's no stopping you once you've got the taste for adventure. You like to be immersed in a completely different world and would be really bored just sitting around on the beach. What grosses you out? You favour the natural look and can't stand a pumped and plumped, plastic appearance.

Habits : Back to Basics
Even if you have a healthy approach to life, you still have your little vices that keep you going through the day. It is all part of the routine, you're a creature of habit. Clean and pure - your choice of drink shows that on the whole you care about your health and make sure you're putting the right stuff in. As for the home, you have very cool and contemporary taste. You have a simple approach to style, but you like things to have their place.

Love : Love Bug
You are a real romantic and a bit of a dreamer. Ok, life may not be a movie, but what's wrong with thinking it is? When you think of freedom - you think of stripping off and getting back to nature. You're comfortable with your body and happy to make the first leap.

Some place I long to be

Hi. You know what my dream is?
I would really love to live somewhere abroad where I can be near to nature, feel the wind, the sea, and the warm glow of the setting sunsets. At night I could watch the stars winking a one another because they are so far apart.

I could listen to the secret messages that the breeze carries among the trees.

I do not know how I can do that but maybe if I concentrate and focus really hard enough, I may really find it in my lifetime. But I really have this dream, you know? If only I could be free....

Wish I am the wind ...

Come, walk with me, and I will show you some things I have seen.

Canon

Hi all,
Pls watch this video.... Canon rocks on the Electric Guitar!

Don't give up
Don't give in
Give it all to Him
Cos He cares so much more than you know

When you are feeling that the person you want to be
Is someone you will never become
Just look at how are
you've come ....

Buddha's Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown, Singapore

Life can be so unpredictable.

But more often than not, there may be clues ....

"Sow a thought, reap an act.
Sow an act, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny."

My special thanks to a special few ... Thank God for you.

The Three Monkeys (revised edition)

Imagine that one day, you found a handphone. It must have belonged to somebody. You opened it and see what the owner must have been like.....

Smses fly around as usual. (What's new?) WHOA!!!

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"Imagine the world that it was before the invention of the mobile phone and smses.

Can you imagine how much effort it would get someone to find his way to your ears just to tell you things that might never have least bothered you at all?

This piece of mobile machine serves a very good recruitment tool for birds of a particular feather. The lure of "vital information" has made many stumble.

It's amazing how much more convenient it is today to pass on your opinions through those little bits and bytes of information that you hope would appear onto someone else's screen. Whatever the outcome from that $0.05 invesment is, there will be some response and probably the response you instinctively know that will come about.

And for that momentary bit of satisfaction ..... you feel the release of a piece of stone from your heart and go to bed each night.

So, let's go back to the days before the handphone was ever invented.

Keep your handphone away from the things that you know you can't say to God.
If you wish to know what kind of a person someone is, you may probably have a good picture by reading through all the smses passing through his/her hp.

Screen through all those smses and read through them as if you were somebody else reading them. Maybe your wife, maybe your sister, your boss, your parents, or Jesus (if you claim to be God-fearing).

Keep your hearts and minds pure and uncorrupted ... avoid the corrupt.

Our life has a history being kept, just like your browsing history cache on your pc. It's a matter of time before someone picks it up and starts learning about you.

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New Lens!!!

Hi, Thanks alot for the comments about my shot.

This evening, I finally got my lens.

It was a very very good price, with assistance from my friends, Phillip and Chan, plus Nelson (from the camera workshop).


I traded in my Nikon kit-lens and bought the 50mm/1.8! All for just $90!!! On top of that, Chan happened to find a lens hood on the table and passed it to me. A previous customer must have left it behind. Nelson and his business partner obliged and so in the end, 3 of us went down Riverwalk so that I could try it out. Not bad.

Will play more with it in future.

Last week, a few of us went phototaking and exploring the streets of Geylang Serai (Malay Village) before the Hari Raya season ends. I took a shot of this girl who was drying up her hands near a fan after hanna-painting. She was kind to pose for this shot although my technique wasn't good enough yet.

I have been trying to master my portraiture shots...

I am not sure whether I should switch to a Canon system or upgrade my existing Nikon set. Or should I just add an additional lens or two... ?



Phillip has recommended me to try Nikon 50/1.8 AF and I am also considerinng Tamron 90/2.8 AF. Which one is better?

Both should be able to provide 1:1 as well as crisp portraits.

When you are suddenly elevated to the top, you may feel the growing need for attention, and approval, both from the people higher up because you have arrived a
new kid in the block, and also from the people around and below you.

You speak, act, feel and even think .... a little louder than before. Somehow yourr voices echos and reverbs within the new work environment and among the new work
order your new position has created.

Vacuums, personal space and pecking order need to be renegotiated. Some sounds take more deliberate (and directional) approach> Some possibly need to be delayed opportunistically to time/synchronise with the movements of the herd in general.

Just to make sure everyone knows the emperor has a new gown.

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