Muted May

This has been a quiet month.  I got myself busy with vibe coding.  My first project was to automate my ServiceNow ticket tracking using Gemini.  I used Gemini to generate java scripts that scan my mail inbox for mails from ServiceNow, check my tracker if they already exist.  If the ticket already exists, the script will use Gemini to summarize the content and update the records.  If the ticket is new, it will create a new entry in my tracker.  There's still some issues with new tickets, so the process is semi-automated.  But man...  it reduces my workload a lot.  This particular task that could take anywhere between 15 to 20 hours a week now takes an hour a day.  And I only need to pay about S$6 to save myself 40 to 60 hours a month.  I was so frustrated when the asshole manager told me ticket tracking will be removed from my 2026 KPI, but apparently I'm still the one conducting weekly calls with the team in Vietnam.  Since they're looking for ways to fail me, I have to step up my game too against these assholes.

Took a Detour to Jewel Yesterday For a Korean Dinner - Galaxy S26 Ultra

Maddening May

May has been an awful month where work is concerned.  The SAP integration project went Live on 26th May, however I had overlooked one issue related to displaying the dispute intent on the chat menu and another issue on an onboarding setup for China.  

What upset me most was that the manager just took me off the onboarding process and asked the obnoxious asshole to take over, I felt like I haven't been given the chance to fix my mistakes.  I was extremely upset, even coming to the verge of wanting to cry.  As that asshole took over the onboarding activities, he started asking questions that made me feel like I haven't done my work.  Well....  The miss on displaying the intent on chat menu was because he said we just need 1 user story and the different teams will work from that user story.  Guess what... the other team didn't come in at all.  I had asked if I need to create another ticket and he said "No", so I had assumed that the other team would come in by themselves.  Man...  it was such a big mistake to just trust him, although I was also at fault for not performing the check on Live environment.  To make things worse, the China team came with a last minute request on Friday to update the queue setup for the web channel.  I was so pissed off, they didn't respond to my inquiries timely, so I fixed the onboarding setup for them, and then at the eleventh hour they mentioned it is not what they want.

Unceremoniously Taken Off The Project

Jalan Membina

About 2 weeks back I had planned to visit Gardens by The Bay to just "walk walk and see see" the lantern installations during mid-Autumn festival, unfortunately the place was jam packed and I had to abandon the plan.  It was a bad idea to visit 3 days before the exhibits were to be taken down.  The fact that it was a Saturday only made things worse.   

Since I was already carrying my X-T2 around, when I almost got home I thought why not go all the way up to 30th floor of my apartment block and see what the view is like from up there.  It was the blue hour anyway.  I had stayed in this block for more than 5 years and never went up at all to see what's it like.  My curiosity was very well rewarded.  

Overlooking Bukit Ho Swee, all the way to Orchard - X-T2 + XF16mmF1.4RWR

Super Blue Blood Moon January 2018

Did you catch the Super Blue Blood Moon tonight?  My viewing attempt was almost thwarted by the rain this evening which resulted in somewhat cloudy skies.  Fortunately the sky was relatively clear by about 21:30.  So I went to the rooftop of a multi-storey car park to get this shot:

In case you're wondering: (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/super-blue-blood-moon-singapore-lunar-eclipse-9914074)

~Photo taken with Fujifilm X-T2 + XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8R LM OIS~

A Small Batam Project

Earlier in October I went to Batam for a private project.  I hadn't been to Batam in a very long time so this short visit was quite refreshing.  Things in Batam change at quite a fast pace nowadays, no doubt tourism is still going strong despite the factories and shipyards having gone out of business.  Harbourbay itself is changing as Marriott is shaping up quite nicely.  This complex is looking more and more..... complex....   I had my X-T2 and the XF10-24mm F4 R OIS for this short project.

Sunset in Harbourbay

Bangkok Biz Trip 2017 - Part 1

For the next phase of the project, I had to travel to Bangkok.  This time it was an 8 days trip including another weekend stay.  But at least I'm very familiar with Bangkok so I didn't find it as boring as it was in Ho Chi Minh.

This time my gears are my back-up Fujifilm X-A10 + XF14mm F2.8R WR.

The trip started with the usual shot of the plane I'd be flying in.  

Usual shot of the plane on the tarmac

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 5

Day 5 was the day we returned to sunny and humid Singapore to resume our normal lives again.  After we had some light breakfast which consisted of cookies and tea, we just walked around the hotel to explore.

The lovable Mickey & Minnie mouse - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 4

On day 4 of our trip, we started with a buffet breakfast at the Disneyland Hotel's Enchanted Garden.  It was a character breakfast where various Disney characters will walk around and take photos with us.

The buffet spread was amazing; lots of variety and cutely decorated Disney character food.  Need I say more?

Just look at all that food!  Too many choices! - X-T2 + XF16mm F1.4R

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 3

Day 3 was when the excitement started as it was the day we moved to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth!  We took the train to Disneyland because we wanted to experience riding the special Mickey Mouse trains from Sunny Bay to Disneyland.

The Disneyland train from Sunny Bay - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 2

Day 2 started at 9 in the morning.  We planned to visit Citygate Outlets (https://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk/)  at Tung Chung which is approximately 45 minutes away from Tsim Sha Tsui.  However prior to that we made a quick visit to Jenny's Bakery to buy all the cookies my wife wanted so that we could settle the packing later on that night.

Jenny's Bakery Tsim Sha Tsui - LG G5

Intercontinental Staycation

Last weekend I & my wife had a staycation in Intercontinental Hotel Bugis.  It was some sort of a replacement for a holiday for me.  Had it not been for the rain I would have explored further to Kampong Glam area.  But seeing how much time we spent in Bugis alone I guess it makes sense to explore Kampong Glam another time.

Check-in was speedy and convenient, everything was as expected.  The room was marvelous, to say the least.

Deluxe Room in Intercontinental Singapore - Bugis

Gardens by The Bay Christmas Wonderland

My wife and the kids are away for holiday at my wife's hometown since last week.  I'm stuck for some work related issues, although not a lot and mostly are already settled by now.  That also means that I have lots and lots of free time on weekends...  And for me that means going to Gardens by The Bay to see the Christmas Wonderland exhibits and take some great photos.  For this trip, I brought along both my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR and D750 + AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX.  But for this entry, I'm using the shots from my X-T2 only.

I arrived quite early at before 4:15 pm.  My first destination was the Flower Dome where the Christmas Wonderland exhibit is on.  I wanted to scout around for good spots, taking sample shots, adjusting the lighting and shadow/highlight setting in my camera.  These are two of my daylight sample shots which turned out well.      

A foliage tunnel going to the South American Garden

Pompompurin Cafe

[UPDATE: Pompompurin cafe has since been closed]

Last Sunday we dropped by Pompompurin Cafe in Orchard Central after Lindsay's ballet class.  Just for the heck of it.  I mean, when it was first launched in April this year people were queuing for about two hours or so to dine there.  Now that the hype has cooled down, it's a good time to drop by for a visit.

For this visit I brought along my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR combo.  Unfortunately the indoor shots weren't so good.  I had been taking photos outdoor earlier and reduced the highlight setting to get better dynamic range under the harsh sunlight and forgot to reset that setting after I moved indoors.  As a result the photos mostly lack contrast and sharpness.  Gotta remember to change the setting next time when I move indoors!!

We arrived 10 minutes early and before us there were already two ladies in the queue.  Not so bad.

The entrance to the Cafe

Fujifilm X-T2: MINE!!!

I believe I should be one of the first in Singapore to get X-T2.  I pre-ordered the camera and got it on the first day it became available in Singapore - 8 September.

X-T2 feels very much like X-T1, but the price difference is very steep.  I purchased my X-T1 and approximately $2.2K for a kit set that comes with the XF 18-55mm F2.8-4.0R, while the X-T2 body only costs $2599.  But the difference in price could somewhat be justified; the new auto-focus system is plain amazing, resolution also increased by 50% (from 16MP to 24MP), 4K video, 1/8000 mechanical shutter speed, double SD card slots and an addition of a joystick to select focus points have been added (similiar to Nikon DSLRs) which is an extremely welcome improvement to ergonomics.  The screen has an additional angle for tilting this time around although I haven't found much use to it just yet.  

AF Joystick under the "Q" button - taken by Sony RX100Mk3

Hello End September

Been so long since I last made an entry in my blog - I got flu again, 2nd time in less than a month. Just plain amazing isn't it.... And by the way yes, I made another template change.  I'm still figuring out how to make the post date appear, the time stamp code is there but I don't understand why it won't appear.. /(>_<)\

Anyway, we celebrated mid-autumn festival this month on 15th Sept.  Chinatown is properly decorated as well with lots and lots of dazzling lanterns.  It was the right opportunity to test my recently acquired X-T2.  Oh yes I got my X-T2 already.  This camera is plain amazing.  I'll be writing about that separately.

Here are some snapshots of Chinatown in its full mid-autumn celebratory mood.

The main show piece in Chinatown - X-T2 + XF14mmF2.8R

Bye Bye X-T1

After 18 months with the X-T1 I finally bid farewell to that awesome camera.  It's kind of bittersweet.  While I love the camera, I'm quite frustrated with the AF capability in terms of DOF accuracy - my old D5300 was considerably better despite the cost at less than half of X-T1's price.  But it's the final photo quality from the X-T1 that made it my favourite.

I sold the body and kit lens together, preparing for X-T2 to arrive in September.

I'm really amazed at how popular Fujifilm is right now, it only took me 2 days to clear the kit after I posted my advertisement.  The price at which I cleared them is quite reasonable as well.

As for X-T2, the paper specs have been promising on the AF department - from 77 points in X-T1 to 325 in X-T2.  Just as how increase of AF points made magic in 5D Mk 3 as compared to 5D Mk 2, I hope for the same on X-T2.

Adieu X-T1.......  

Farewell to X-T1

~ Photo taken with Sony RX100 Mk 3 ~

Kidzania Trip - July 2016

Last Friday we went to Kidzania in Sentosa.  On my wife's suggestion, I had promised Lincoln to bring him to Kidzania as his birthday present.  And I think it was a very good suggestion indeed as the kids certainly had a good time.

From the start both Lincoln and Lindsay were already very excited and couldn't wait to start.

Outside Kidzania

Surabaya Trip - Part 6

Day 3 is the day we return back to Surabaya.  There's still time to squeeze in a quick trip to nearby Taman Wisata Selecta.  So after breakfast we quickly checked out and leave for Selecta.

A trip to Selecta is like a trip down memory lane.  I remember going there as a 10 - 11 year old when I was still staying in Surabaya.  We went to the swimming pool - which is still there. flower and fruit market, rabbit market and the flower garden.  Well, most are still there, but they look better than what I can remember.

A variety of lowers for sale on display - taken with Fujifilm X-T1 + XF16mm F1.4R WR

Surabaya Trip - Part 5

Day 2 in Batu was packed with activities.  We visited 3 attractions all in 1 day: Batu Secret Zoo, Museum Satwa & Museum Angkut.  Of the 3 attractions I personally like Museum Angkut best.

During the visit to Batu Secret Zoo I forgot to bring the spare battery for my X-T1 so the camera was flat after less than an hour.  Fortunately my RX100 Mk 3 was still full so I had a back-up camera.

Batu Secret Zoo is a zoo and theme park mixed together. The kids really had a lot of fun there.  Along the way to the top I stumbled upon this great view.

A display showcase inside the zoo - taken with Sony RX100 Mk3 

Surabaya Trip - Part 4

It's the new year!  And it's also the day we set out for Batu.  Batu here we come!

Yeah look at that traffic.  What's supposed to be a leisurely 2 and a half hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive.

Traffic Jam at Lawang - taken with LG G3