Linc's P1 Orientation

Last Friday Lincoln and I attended his school orientation at Zhangde primary school.  It was an important session as it was the 1st time I had to send my child to Primary 1.  It was the time to get some knowledge and information on what he has to do/bring to school, what should I do as a parent, etc, etc.

Lincoln was the first in his class to assemble.  I was rushing to make sure I get the good seat!

First Student to Arrive!

Lousy Weeks

It's been quite a while since my last entry.  Things had been crazy too.  A slew of major enhancements were released for one of my projects.  Testing was complex, even up till now there's still one function which I'm not confident to wrap up.  At least most are already cleared...

And some news concerning work came early this week too which no doubt caused some jitters (http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/japan-s-k-line-mol-nyk-to-integrate-container-shipping-business.html) in the office.  With the current market situation however, this is a logical move, better to merge, be lean and efficient than to sink (like Hanjin...) although it will come at some major expense on the staffs of the 3 companies who, if fortunate enough will be re-deployed to the new company or other existing businesses else it's the door for some of them.  

I'm actually more angry than disappointed at this news.  I mean, I've been working on the project for 3 years by now and there's a chance that it might not go off.  Even if it does go live, usage will be limited to less than 2 years if the merger plans go according to schedule.  

Performance wise, I know that I've been doing quite well too and I had been looking forward to next year's appraisal.  But with things the way they are now I'm back to square one.   

Going forward, I have to maintain a positive outlook and see this as an opportunity, although exactly for what, I don't know just yet.  I'll be waiting and looking out for some signs (which will somehow appear, I hope..).  

Here's a closing for this "lousy" entry: 

Coconut Ice Cream + Jellied Water Chestnut From Co+Nut+Ink at Esplanade

~ Photo taken with LG G5 ~

Tex-Mex Fridate

[UPDATE: Coyote Tex-Mex has since been closed]

Last Friday I & my wife had a Tex-Mex themed Fridate.  We visited this place called Coyote Tex-Mex (http://www.coyote.com.sg/).  It's a nice, quiet and romantic place in Phoenix Park, Tanglin.  The place was just recently re-opened under the same management; the establishment was formerly called Spruce (http://www.spruce.com.sg/) and they used to serve American & Italian food.  That's the most likely reason why you can still find a small selection of Italian dishes in Coyote's menu.  The original Spruce still operates in Bukit Timah now.

For us, it was certainly a nice welcome change from our usual Italian, Japanese or Western fridates which has become somewhat predictable, if not, routine.

Coyote does not disappoint.  The ambiance is very nice, food is good, friendly staffs, child friendly environment too - although you might want to bring a mosquito repellent for them in case you want to let them play in the bouncy play ground downstairs - not that I'm saying they have mosquitoes there but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Wifey wanted terrace seat as it was very cold inside, it was raining whole day so outdoor seating was pleasantly breezy

My Brain Close Shop on Weekends

Lately I mean.... Seriously, for the past 3 months or so, weekends have been spent ferrying kids to the tuitions and activity classes that I seldom get quality rest and self-time on weekends....  It does not help that I feel work has been unrewarding too as of late; I have reached this state of "hidup segan mati pun tak mau" - it keeps things running but no more than that.

Saturday morning starts with taking Lincoln to his reading class, after that we go for lunch and he continues with his Mandarin class while I do the weekly grocery shopping.  Previously I would shop with my wife but she has since been taking Muay Thai classes on every Saturday afternoon so I shop alone now.  After that I'll pick up Lincoln and we head back home and it's time for me to exercise and finally help Lincoln with his homework or just play around with the kids.

Sunday starts even earlier than Saturday with Lindsay's ballet class, followed by brunch, an hour or two of family time and then karate class for Lincoln and myself.  Karate class is the only thing I look forward to on weekends (other than spending time with the kids), it's the time when I can have some sort of meditation (funny yeah... karate for meditation..).  After class I still have to do more homework catch-up with Lincoln in case we didn't finish it on the night before.

I really enjoy the karate class, especially when practicing and doing Kata (型).  The swishing and flapping sounds my Gi makes is familiarly soothing.  In a way, I'm putting back the puzzle pieces together after 22 years of not practicing karate.  I can see that "黒帯" (black belt) within reach even as I'm starting at white again now.

Sometimes I feel like my weekend is just as jam-packed as my weekdays and I'm on auto-pilot almost everyday, which I don't really enjoy....  That's why on weekends it feels like my brain "close-shop" too.

Here's a closing shot for this "brainless" rambling:

"Closed" sign at Lincoln's Reading Class - that bokeh is real not fake like the one in iPhone 7 ;p

  ~ Photo taken with LG G5 ~

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

New Template Again - Should be Final

Well.... I'm fed up with looking for new responsive custom templates that just don't work when uploaded... So I decided to go back to basics and just use Blogger's default templates.  I customized the layout to achieve a clean minimalist look as best as I can.  No more being lazy getting a template, upload and use, but really squeeze my creative juices to achieve a unique look.  I think I could be a designer too.  ;p  

This should be final with occasional modifications of the widgets.

New Look!

  Love that new look.  :)