Singapore trip, 27-30 May 2008

Deepest condolence to Tony Hoon and family for the passing away of Allan Hoon on 29/5/2008.
May he have a blissful rebirth.

Arrived on 27th, 4pm-ish, Tony picked me up from Lavender.

attended Dharma talk by 16th Drawu Meghen Rinpoche.

After dharma talk, makan-ed durian at Geylang. Trust me, I only had durians, nothing else :-)
Damn got standard wan .... sit on nice teak table and chairs to eat, free flow of plain water provided.
Even chio bu go there eat with their hands wan ... don't play play.

Next day, had malay rice. Something I can hardly find here in Malaysia.
Malaysia's malay dishes somehow never look appealing to me, or its just me who doesn't know where to get good malay rice.

Random-ing before suffering ....



I was surviving the pain ! ^_^

If there's internal blood clot in a particular area, there will be more blood being drawed.

Okay, Enough of my treatment.

At night, we went to Geylang for durian again, and I also eaten the famous Geylang Beef Kuey Teow.

Goodies.

Kah Fei and Tony Hoon.

30th May 2008, Few hours before I board the bus to Singapore-KL, I had some good chinese Nasi Lemak.
For $2.50, you'll get a piece of drumstick/chicken wing, egg, fish( not sure what fish is it ) and a piece of fish cake/ham.

This particular store has been featured in Singapore's magazine and newspaper.
This is the only Nasi lemak stall I see people lining up to buy, whereas others ... hmm...

I heard some people saying Singapore's standard of living is high, but if we are earning and spending Sing dollar,
then I would say the standard of living is far lower than Malaysia.

And of course, among the few magazines that I would never leave Singapore without buying :P

When Daddy Think He Knows Best ...

While I was updating my resume to apply for a part-time Fitness Instructor opening, I recalled something my dad told me few years ago when I was still actively competing in Taekwondo competitions and other sports.

My parents are the conservative types where they think their child should be studying hard, get a good job with high salary. They never want their child should be taking part in any sports as it's just waste of time and will not bring any benefit.


Worst still, my dad told me no employers will want to hire someone who's into combat sports.
During that time, I wasn't able to defend my stand although I believe whatever I go through with combat sports will be beneficial to me one day in the future, somehow or rather.

Today I realized, what I believe appears to be true. As I would like to venture into the fitness industry once I complete my tertiary education, my experiences as a district level and state reserves athlete will be giving me credits as part of my resume.

I am certainly feeling pissed off with my dad somehow today, if not for his disapproval for me to take part in sports, I would have made it further than what I've achieved before I ended my career prematurely.

Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

I've been itching to get my Canon EF-S 18-55MM f/3.5-5.6 II replaced for the past few months, but I was being lazy to drop by camera shops to survey and of course purchasing the iPhone causes some delay as well.

Getting a Canon lens is pretty much out of my budget especially for fast lenses, so I shortlisted a few 3rd party lenses instead;

1. Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF]
2. Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO
3. Tokina AT-X 16-50mm F2.8 PRO DX

I went over to YL Camera Service at Pudu Plaza this afternoon to check out some used Canon L lenses that caught my attention via ShutterAsia forum and recommendation by Peter Tan, the Canon EF 70-200mm F/2.8L USM (RM2.9K-RM3.1K) and Canon EF 16-35MM F/2.8L USM(RM2.9K). I thought I'll be getting those L lenses, but somehow I just don't feel good about buying 2nd hand lenses, although 3 months warranty is given by YL Camera Service, and they worked pretty well when I tested them.

So I settled for a Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] at RM1580 (inclusive of HOYA UV(N)HMC Filter) instead, But I'm hold back from buying any Tele lenses at the moment.

Taken with Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

Taken with Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 II

So far I can only say I love it's faster focusing speed and bokeh compared to Canon EF-S 18-55MM f/3.5-5.6 II.

Bruce Lee's Striking Thoughts

"Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth."

Bruce Lee
1940-1973, Martial Artist, Actor and Author