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.