I'm still very proud of this picture here. Photomarathon 2003 was my year man! I had plenty of free pubilicity. Till now when my boss and I went for meetings, dinners etc., I still get comments on my entry in photomarathon 2003. My boss actually commented that the clients know me more as a photographer than an engineer. Oops!

Photomarathon 2004 was a disaster for me. Total mental block. No fresh idea at all for the themes given. Anyway I've signed up for this year's competition. Hopefully I'll be able to do better this time.

I haven't gone on a photo-shoot for a long time. The most recent shots taken were of the Mid Autumn Fest in Chinatown. But that didn't really count as I was at my aunt's place more for the company and food rather than shooting. And those taken in US trip weren't that fantastic because I was with my family and I couldn't stay in any one place long enough for me to explore for good angles. Everytime I stopped the kids would be calling for me to hurry up.

Sometimes I wish I could just drop everything and go on a long vacation somewhere without my hubs and kids.... just me and my camera. That, of course, is impossible now. I actually feel guilty when I leave my kids at my mom's place while my hubs and I go out for movies and dinners etc. Perhaps I will be able to do that when the kids are all grown up and they do not need me to be around anymore. *gasp* No, wait! I change my mind. I hope that day will never come! I need my kids to need me!

I'm having so much fun with the Nokia 6680. Still trying to customise the settings. Merc sent me a MacOS theme and this is how it looks like on my cell-phone. Pretty isn't it?

Bought a silicon skin cover for the phone. Protects it really well but the down side is, the phone becomes slightly bulky.

I realise too how popular ipod can get. I'm using this music player called OggPlay and it has a ipod skin. It was so funny because with the silicon cover and the ipod skin of the music player, my cell phone now looks kinda like a ipod. I mean.... just look at the screen capture I took of my cell phone!

Have copied a number of games and was also trying to convert some of my Snoopy DVDs into the phone. This should keep my kids entertained when the need arises. Downloaded the required software last night. But by the time I'm done.. it's time for CSI!!

Every Wednesday at 10pm - CSI:Miami (Season 3), 11pm- CSI (rerun Season 4). And if I miss those, I can watch the encore on Sunday. AXN-ASIA called it their CSI: Sunday Supreme. At 9pm it's CSI , at 10pm it's CSI:M and at 11pm it's rerun of season 1 CSI:NY. I missed quite a lot of NY so will definitely be watching the reruns.

My husband wondered why I'm so into CSIs since the forensic methods in the shows seemed rather far-fetched at times. Well... I'm aware of that. But I'm not just watching for the science of it. I mean if I want real science, I'll be watching Discovery Channel. Right?

Ooh.. a storm is brewing outside my window now. The weather has been quite lousy lately. There were a lot of thunderstorms in the afternoons. Which is weird cos it shouldn't be so wet at this time of the year. The weather is going crazy.

Since the nights have been so bad lately, I have not done much brisk walking for quite a while. Weight update 22 Sep 05 : 6.00am : 58.5kg Hmm.. I managed to knock off 1kg. Not much. But at least something. But I really ought to get rid of that choco-bar in my fridge.

I got my Nokia 6680 last Thursday and I like it! The positions of the phone's functions are what I'm familiar and comfortable with and it is a definite relief after my frustrations with the Sony-Ericsson's design. The design of the phone is simple yet business-like. And I prefer this to some of the fancier and colorful ones. Using chrome-plated plastic on the sides and the main buttons adds to the look but those are finger-print magnets! Had to wipe them off all the time. It's a bit bigger than my old phones but I can live with that.

I'm still new to Symbian OS this being my first smartphone. Merc sent me a couple of links to Symbian application forums which I visited right away. I've downloaded some of the applications but yet to explore them.

I did my first video call with Merc after my 3G SIM card was activated last Friday. It was really fun! The VGA camera is located at the top right corner of the phone. In order for him to see my entire face, I have to hold the phone at about a foot away. But I wasn't using the earphones then. And the few times when I couldn't hear him, I automatically placed the phone against my ear. Guess he had a good look at my eardrum. *LOL*

There's another 1.3MP camera located at the back of the phone, protected by a sliding panel. The camera can be activated just by sliding the panel down, even though the keypad is locked. Found that out after I accidentally taken a few pictures of my pocket contents. I've tried the camera. The quality of the photos isn't too bad for outdoor shots. But there is noticeable pixelisation and noise for indoor or low-light shots. Overall quality is quite decent with the tiny flash, although not as good as a dedicated digital camera. But the advantage of having a camera with me all the time ensures that I can capture those "Kodak" moments. Pictures taken with Nokia 6680.
This is my godson, Ian.
And this a pic of my two kids with Ian's dad.

I downloaded the N90 music player and its layout is very similar to an ipod's. I'm rather impressed with it's sound quality. But the bundled 64MB MMC is way too small. I soon ran out of space after installing all my applications. And on Merc's recommendation, I've upgraded to a 512MB card.

Too bad there isn't a FM radio. I notice that quite a number of cell phones do not have the radio and I find that rather strange. I mean it's not too expensive to add in a radio function, is it? It ought to be a default feature.

I haven't tried the movie player or the email functions yet. Actually I haven't tried many of the functions yet. Think I'll have plenty of fun going through those.

One feature that I like in particular is the mute + sms. If I decide not to take a call, I can silence the ringing by pressing the upper right button. Immediately, the same button becomes a "Send Message". And when I press it, a sms with the message "I'll call you later" (or whatever u want to say) and the caller as the receipient is automatically created. Now that is one really useful function for me!

Verdict? Go get one! Now!

The ipod nano is creating quite a stir here. My goodness! The black version so unbelivably sexy! It's got that drool factor, man! If only I hadn't bought the shuffle. I dare not go near any Apple Centre now. It's just too tempting. And God knows how impulsive I can get where gadgets are concerned.

I've already maxed out my expenditure for this month. I ordered the Nokia 6680 and also bought tickets to Eric Johnson's Live in Concert. Eric Johnson will be here for a 1-night-only performance on 22 Sep. I really love his Cliffs of Dover so no way I'm going to miss his concert. My hubby and my brother are fairly good guitarists and they will be going too. My brother is really crazy about guitars. I helped him shift into his new home recently and I counted 13 guitars!

As for the cell phone.. I really have enough of my current Sony-Ericsson k508i. I just can't get used to it. I was using Nokia6610i for a while and was perfectly happy with it. But I dropped it in a cab and never managed to recover it. So after reading some of the reviews, I decided to give k508i a try. After 3 months, I have enough. I'm getting rid of it and switching back to Nokia. And since Singtel announced that video call rates will be charged the same rate as voice calls, I decided to get a 3G phone. I got a good trade-in price for the k508i so that helps to offset the cost a little.

The few things about k508i that really bugged me are...I keep deleting stored names accidentally when all I wanted was to end the call. And the speakerphone is so difficult to access. It's so silly! I mean it takes only 1 press of a button to erase a stored phone number but 5 clicks to activate the speakerphone? WTF? And what's with the noisy camera 'shutter' sound? I can't lower it's volume or mute it at all. And the navigator is so sensitive that I keep activating all sorts of functions by mistake.

I just received a call from the cell phone shop. My new cell phone has arrived. So I'll be collecting it tomorrow. Yeah!

Feeling rather sleepy now. Been up late the last few nights to work on a video project. Finally completed it last night. But had to miss CSI:Miami. There's a repeat this Sunday but again I won't be able to catch it because I took on a wedding video job for this coming Sunday. I did say I'm putting my video service on hold. But decided to take up this particular job since it was referred by an old client. Anyway with my recent purchases I think I better get some extra income.

Lights up at Eu Tong Seng Street, Chinatown

Latterns released into the sky

Skyline as seen from my aunt's condo

Fireworks Display

Argh!!! I can't seem to get my work done... my desk is so messy that i think i spend way too much time digging for my files. I had meetings after meetings today and at 4.30pm i had to dash off to bring my kids to their friend's birthday. Just got back a while ago. And boy! am I tired! But I have a deadline tomorrow. So i still need to stay up to finish it. Shit! Me and my big mouth. I shouldn't have promised my client the report tomorrow. I totally forgotten about the birthday party.

Last Sunday I was at my aunt's condo watching the official opening of Mid-Autumn festival celebration in Chinatown. She's staying on the 26th floor with a fantastic view of Chinatown. My aunt said the view of fireworks from her windows would be spectacular. Well, she wasn't exaggerating. It was stunning!

Her condo was right next to the empty area where the pyrotechnic guys set up their stuff. Can you imagine? ... i mean the fireworks were exploding right before our eyes! The rest of my family were in the living room, while I was alone in the bedroom, armed with my EOS20D, ready to capture the fireworks. The windows in the living room were clear ones, so they were able to watch safely behind closed windows. But her bedroom windows were those frosted glass type so I had to leave the window opened. I wouldn't be able to see through it. I realised my mistake. A couple of minutes into the fireworks display and I had to run for cover. I was so afraid that the flares would hit me. It was that close! It was really crazy but fun!

Anyway I got some pictures. Have transferred them into my powerbook. Will try to upload some later. But right now I need to get back to my work.

I still don't know why hurricanes or typhoons are given names. And it appears that those with girl's names are more destructive. Weird.

I've been following CNN reports since Monday when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. It's really sad. People getting killed and homes destroyed. I hope help will reach all the victims soon.

Is it just me or have the intensities of natural disasters gradually increased? I kept hearing reports like "this is the worst in the last century/decade." Hurricanes, typhoons, tsunami, earthquakes were a lot more destructive than before. What caused it? Global warming?

My hubby rented a video not too long ago. Can't remember the title.. Day After Tomorrow or something like that. It's about a worldwide catastrophe triggered by the continuous greenhouse effect and global warming. There were multiple hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis etc leading to the start of the next Ice Age. It was all special-effects. But it looked so real that I stopped watching it about halfway through. It was so scary. It's like seeing something that you know is going to happen and yet you're powerless to do anything about it. Like I said... Scary!

We are feeling the effects of Katrina in a slightly different area here. There's been another increase in petrol prices. This is about the 4th time the price has gone up this year! Think i'll try to leave the car behind at the office and take the MRT to meetings instead. Saves petrol and less emissions into the air.

Poor Earth. We've been killing the only home we have.