Shots of Paris

Link to Flickr set

Finally uploaded some pictures taken during the trip to Paris in Nov. Had to retouch some of them due to the dirt on the sensor, which should be cleared in my next set of updates from Istanbul.

Enjoy!

Collection of thoughts

Still missing my old but reliable bike after losing my keys. The trip journey back from the office has increased from 20min to almost an hour these days. I am starting to wonder if there are any other ways of cutting through my ABUS lock after exhausting my efforts with the council and police. Maybe I should just get a new bike instead; new year, new bike, makes perfect sense.

Sometimes I do wish what it will be if I am one of the Goldman Sachs employees, earning those amounts that some will probably associate the exorbitant numbers earned by Premier League footballers. One thing for sure, is that I will certainly not have the problem of deciding whether to pick the lock to my bike or treating myself to a brand new £1000 bike if I want.

Another NY Times article wrote recently on why he thinks Amazon should buy eBay which I find to be quite intriguing as I always admired Amazon for the way they have change our perspective of internet shopping since the mid 90s. But the more interesting points raised was how the industries continue to consolidate both to derive innovation as well as to inject freshness into the other which may seem to be losing its way abit.

And in many case, seems to be the same for the company that I work for. It was officially announced last week that Microsoft has acquired Multimap on my way back from Turkey. I am quietly excited about the change, but also worried how the changes in culture, policies, etc, are going to affect us all. However, I like to believe that if we can continue to hold on to the biggest assets of the company, which is its people, we can definitely make a difference to the mapping industry in the new year to come.

D80 woes

I first noticed these marks on my new D80 several weeks back after I uploaded the photos to my laptop. After multiple attempts at cleaning the lens and not not able to see any marks on them, I was under the impression that I have got over the problem before my trip to Paris last weekend.

To my horror, I just noticed them same marks again on the same spots after copying the files to my computer. It really seems weird as I can't see any 

dirt/scratches on the lens with my naked eye, but I guess I will have to bring it to a Nikon specialist to find out what is wrong. 

I hope the repairs will be covered under the warranty since I have bought it for only 2 months!

Update 18 Dec:

Well, it seems like the issue was caused by dirt/hair particles in my sensor, which I confirmed after bringing my kit down to Fixation to check. Did a few shots when I was over in Istanbul but have yet to sort through my pictures in detail, but initial checks seems OK.

Is this English?

If you have been to China in the last few years, you would probably have noticed some of these signage translations. Due to the massive influx of Western tourists, they are indeed a rush for this posts!

The Daily Mail published a centerfold of strange but extremely hilarious signs, go grab your Chinese friend to explain some to you! :)

Although I have to admit I feel slightly ashamed of this embarrassed.

Eventful weekend trip to Budapest

Such was the experience I had in Budapest over the weekend, that I can't help but laughed at myself when I think back. It wasn't the best start that anyone would like to have at the beginning of any vacation to realise that all your keys have fell out of your baggage during the transport, including my flat keys, office keys and keys to my bicycle. Since there was nothing that I could do, and only had less than 2 days to enjoy the best of Budapest, I headed straight for the bus, and change to the metro, which was relatively cheap (but make sure you buy both tickets at the airport for better deal).

First stop, Prima Hostel, very cheap @ less than £8 for a night in room of 4. Since I only needed a bed for the night, it sounded just the deal I needed. Room was basic with promised breakfast that did not arrive the next morning (and had pretty bad bed bug bites after). Will only recommend purely based on price consideration and location. First stop is the most classic looking MacDonald outlet that I have come across, directly beside the Nyugati train station, preserving absolute classical architecture and design. I was intrigued and had to get a Happy meal and was kindly served by Ronald himself.

After filling my stomach, it was time to head towards the Margaret Bridge that strandles between Buda and Pest, with the south tip of Margaret Island connected to it amid the mighty Danube River. The evening scenery was amazing as the many building lining along the River was nicely lilted up. You get the feeling that every street is filled with some surprise waiting to be discovered and every restaurant round the corner is waiting to have it's famous goulash to be tasted. Together with the zero degrees, it certainly feel special to some degree, very European but less the tourists.



Dinner was definitely the highlight of my trip as I stumbled onto Firkasz, near to the Margaret Bridge, setup by former journalists (as seen from the memorabilia all over the walls within. An English speaking diner kindly recommended that I am definitely at the right place whilst I was looking at the menus. It proves to be an excellent choice as I had one of the best goulash that I ever tasted (not that I had any before this), and excellent Hungarian wine, affordable and cheerful. Mains was duck breast, with some strange vege that you have to pay separately for - Nice but too much for me.

I headed to Castle hill the next morning and popped in a bookshop to buy some stamps to send a postcard to my gf, only to discover later that I have accidentally left my wallet in the shop. This was really the twist to trip which was otherwise quite enjoyable. Thinking that I had been pickpocketed, I back traced my route to the point just before the bookshop and eventually headed to a police station nearby to report my mishap. With no cash in hand, I was pretty gutted that I can't enjoy the spa baths of the world famous Gellert Baths, and worse of all, getting back to the airport for my flight in 3 hours. I did manage to hope on a few trams and bus without paying to accelerate my journey and was glad that I had a peek in the Gellert baths after the manager took pity on me (see flickr photos). When the time arrived, I had to sneak onto the metro and bus again to get back to the airport and did the same on the DLR/tube after landing at London City airport. The pouring weather that greeted me and not able to get into my flat was probably not the best ending one like, but was eventful after all.

p.s. I was lucky to get back my wallet after the shop owner returned it to my country's consulate although the courier cost me £40 to get it back! But all is worth when I think back at how careless I was, at least it wasn't my passport that was lost :P

See all my photos in Flickr.

Barcelona trip

Entrance to the Guell Park

Just finished uploading a bunch of pictures from a trip to barcelona back in July this year. Really interesting city to spend a couple of days, and managed to visit most of the museums that we wanted to, except for a few Gaudi ones that have long queues which we simply avoided. Another highlight was the stay at Chic & Basic Tallers Hostel beside Universitat Square. Very modern and boutique styled accomodation, ranging from spa shower to lights that come on/off just by touching the surface. Not very expensive and highly recommended if you looking for something different to a standard hotel. Biggest miss was probably not able to attend a match at the magnífico Nou Camp.

Enjoy some of the pics - http://flickr.com/photos/tangysd/sets/72157602407281445/

"Eye" Delight at Heathrow

Heathrow has always been a nightmare for travelers, both coming in and out. Probably worse if you are one of those like me who doesn't carry UK or EU passports. Queuing at the immigration takes up to 1hr on usual, worse is never surprising, with the few exceptions when you can pick up your bags from the conveyor belt before everybody are probably on the way into Central London.

Not anymore these days after I signed up with IRIS. The IRIS program is really one of the few change by the UK govt that impressed me. To enroll on the program, you need to sign up just before leaving for your holidays out of the country. The rooms are not obviously located so it is best to ask around before you proceed to continue with your duty free shopping. In the room, you are asked a few questions to qualify for the program and then asked to sit in front of a iris scanning machine that looks exactly like those at the optician. You position your eyes into 2 red circle, wait for a click and voila!

The next time you come back into the country, you can give your mates who are queuing up at immigration the biggest grin, before walking through the iris machine in a minute, and off to collect your luggage and out of Heathrow in 10min (Doesn't take into consideration baggage delays)...*SWEET* :)

Note: The IRIS system is only available at certain airports, check the official site before leaving.

New pictures from Havana, Toronto and first skydive!

After a slightly hectic past 4 months, with the relocation of my girlfriend to New York, move to a new and tiny studio across the street where we used to rent, as well as few overseas work trip, I think I have finally settled down. Having my internet working after almost 2 months of constant calling to the broadband companies made this look even more like a miracle (I forgot I was in UK!!!), it all seemed like I was suddenly back in civilization the moment the Virgin Media guy told me "It's done!". I heaved a great sigh of relief after 2 previous failed attempts (it was really 3rd time lucky), to a point when my colleagues were casting the suspicious look at me when I told them I have to work from home to wait for the technician again.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to visit my girlfriend again 2 weeks back, with an itinerary of visiting Havana in Cuba, and a couple of days in Toronto, Canada before spending the weekend in New York to celebrate the birthday of my beloved. The highlight of the trip had to be the skydiving experience in New Jersey, 30 minutes on a tiny propeller plane up to 10,000 feet before jumping out of the plane, free falling for less than 30 seconds, and then the nice slow ride on the parachute down. Another tick against one of those things to do in life. Adrenaline rush is an understatement until you try it yourself.

Havana, Cuba
Toronto/Niagara Falls
New Jersey Skydive Adventure
New York "Mini" Birthday Party

More pics of pending iPhone launch...

The queue snaking round the 5th Ave building behind Apple store.














A power nap before the big rush...

3 hours to iPhone...

The excitement is getting to me. I can't help but wander over to the Apple store over at 5th Ave after doing a take away from a chinese shop from the 1st. If you want to be seen holding a brand new iPhone, this is the outlet to be. Screaming with journalists and broadcasters, this landmark 24hr Apple shop is always the highlight for new product launches. The queue was amazing, snaking round the entire building (More pics to follow). I am still skeptical about how Apple can pull this off, considering that they have not launch a mobile before, and will be eagerly awaiting for the first "real" user's review in the coming days. And I can't help but wonder how many of them will end up on eBay after they get their hands on it?

Sawfish attains protection...finally!

This is really good news as the sawfish finally got the protection that it has duely deserve after all these years.

BBC Link

SUV or bicycle - you decide

Wired has this interesting summary of the costs of petrol per gallon around the world. Its no longer how much a barrel costs, but how much the govt decides to subsidise or tax you. I think I still prefer my trusty £15 bike :) and sleep better at night...

Chips in fish

I feel a sudden disgrace to associate myself as a Singaporean when I read of such reports. What is wrong with the educational system that probes the intrinsic curiousity of kids when you just get some machines to feed all the info to them!

"Gone are the days when visitors are happy looking at animals and matching them with the information on the sign boards," Chew said."

Reuters

Shoes that show you the way

German designer Martin Frey has come up with a pair of shoes that aim to make this possible. His CabBoots tilt their soles to direct the wearer. The video below shows the squashy soles tilting to either side to make the user feel the edges of their virtual path.

Link

Pics from Iceland

The land that is known as ice and fire, very different from other European cities we've visited. Only thing "negative" abt touring here would be things are so expensive, even based on London standards. The city is very clean & people typically speak gd English. The lifestyle is very laid back. Shops opening hours are short & little activity on wkends, besides the cafes/bars etc. Long hours of daylight means you can spend more time outdoors, but at the same time, little to see/do within the city itself. Should definitely drive out of Reykjavik to see the natural landscapes, good if you like the nature, and hiking is probably the next best way to get close to the amazing surroundings...& always ensure you have sufficient petrol, as we realised there aren't too many petrol stations once you drive out further. Very "intense" when the refuel lamp is switched on & we are still on mountain roads. Highly recommended, not for the rotten sharks meat though... :)

Link

Save the whales

Join Greenpeace and make your voice count towards protecting the whales.

The future of the whales will be decided in Anchorage, Alaska, in a couple of weeks time. A meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will decide if whales will be hunted or protected.

Make your voice heard

As a committed Whale Defender, we need you to make your voice heard once again. The key governments in the debate need to hear from you that you demand that the International Whaling Commission works to protect whales.

You can help by letting the key governments going to Anchorage know that you expect them to be working to defend the whales.

Send your message here

New Multimap website

The new Multimap website has gone live! (click on the link on the top left on the current site). IMHO I think this will really move the mapping arena to the next level. I really like the way information is presented to the users in the relevant way, with Points of Interests, ability to store your history and favourites, the useful A4 print friendly pages and some of the old functions that was available of the old site, i.e. booking of hotels, are really useful! The inclusion of eBay is probably another first for a mapping site (disregarding the mashups that uses google maps and eBay API), on top of the hybrid function which Multimap had for years before the rest of the mapping sites decided to do something similar. It might start a new trend of users who want to save shipping costs and use the maps to see where are the nearest items. Users can even select different types of maps by hovering their mouse over the map button (Although I think that's abit of an Easter egg!). The availability of weather, local information on each pan is a real nice feature as well.

Another key feature which is not obvious to the user is the convergence of web and mobile mapping! By indicating your mobile phone number when registering (really works only in UK atm), you will be able to do the same location searches on your mobile phone as well, and even the ability to retrieve what the user has stored as their Histories and Favourites from the web. If you are lost, you can just text a simple message and find out where you are! Extremely useful for those late night outs! I actually find it really useful if you are in need of trying to find a place, which is exactly what happened to me over the weekend I had when I pulled in a map of the flat that I was viewing by texting "mymm [postcode]" and it returns me the exact map that I would be seeing on the web, minus the screen size - which was not that bad on my N73.

I am extremely excited how the new site will be received by the users and look forward to the feedback.

BTW - It even works fantastic in Singapore - see attachment, and not displaying some closest relevant search results like what Google does if they do not find something.

Pics from Croatia trip

Visited Croatia over the Easter weekend, in specific the Dalmatia coast. Arrived at Split airport and rented a simple B&B along the small Postrana town. Rented a car and drove all the way down to Dubrovnik, Makarska, Ston, Trogir and even took a ferry to the island of Brac for a day trip. The driving was pretty fun as the roads were extremely narrow and along the edge, and that makes you have to be 101% concentrated at any point in time. Interesting bit was that we actually have to cross through Bosnia on the journey to Dubrovnik.

Food was kinda boring after the 2nd day as it was constantly pasta, pizza or seafood. Although some of them are quite nice except for the last dinner we had in the Diocletian Palace ruins. Ordered a fish stew and after 1 hour, the plate came out to be more of a steam fish rather than anything close to a stew.

Enjoy the pics

Wii boxing tournament

Family and friends will be keen to watch the following 2 videos from a Wii "boxing tournament" over the weekend. Take extra note how much my gf wanted to knock me out in the first video.

We live in Singapura

Not new, but still very interesting 4 minute video to show to your foreign friends about our beloved country.

More of iPhone

You have heard and seen alot of the upcoming iPhone(which Steve Ballmer reckons it is the most expensive phone in history!) over the past few weeks, the following video is somewhat refreshing...

Phoneline dead -> Internet dead -> TV dead

Phone line has been down for past 2 days, apparently due to some technical issues with my BT line. Thanks to my 'neighbour', I can barely get a signal to my in my flat. Well, it's better than nothing, at least I can logon - I can't imagine if I were to live without internet!

BT - Wake up your idea and fix my phone line!!!

Update 6 Jan: Got a sms from BT this morning updating me that they have fixed my line! So glad I do not have to spend the weekend without the net.