Trying to Lose Weight!

Right about 2 months ago I visited my regular family doctor due to a sore throat with fever, which was soon diagnosed as a common cold - yes I had a bit of a blocked nose although it was the sore throat that really bothered me.  

When the doctor took my blood pressure she said that it was on the high side, borderline in fact.  And I should exercise more and lose weight where possible.

I didn't really took that into consideration as I was more irritated by the fever and painful throat (as well as the occasional cough due to phlegm).  But over time I began to realize that she does have a point.  There were times when I had unexplained bouts of headaches that regular paracetamol cannot handle.  The pain felt like the back of my head was literally being pulled.  And there were also times when the headache was so bad I had to throw up.

So I decided that I have to take control of my weight problem.  I changed my diet by cutting out carbohydrates on weekday day time, eating salad, fried eggs and tofu as well as protein bars.  No more coffee on weekdays.  Instead I start drinking green tea and reduce my coffee intake to 2 or 3 cups in a week - with milk yes but unsweetened.  At night time I allow myself a bit of rice in order to have some energy to cycle on a static bike.  I'd try to cycle at least 4 times a week although sometimes it's actually lesser than that....  In fact for the past 2 weeks I only cycled twice despite maintaining my diet.

Then just a week ago I got myself a Fitbit Charge HR to measure my heart rate.  I think that was the right decision...  I realized my heart rate is really high, unlike 9 years ago when I was averaging about 62 bpm.  Even 7 years ago it was still at quite a manageable 67.  Nowadays I average about 88 to 92.  Even when resting the lowest I got was only 74.  I take this as a warning that I really have to start taking my weight issue seriously.

Just yesterday on Tuesday I exercised again, 36 minutes on the static bike at 38% resistance, burned 455 calories.  This is my heart rate after that exercise.  

After 36 minutes of cycling!

Singapore Zoo Trip 2013

It's been quite a while since I last made an entry into my blog.  This time around it will be about a visit to the Singapore Zoo back in November 2013.

For this trip I equipped myself just with the Nikon D5100 and the AF-S 18-300mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR.  Lincoln was very excited from the moment we arrived.  At the entrance we were greeted by this small cute fellow.

I really forgot the name of this little primate....

Fireworks - Singapore National Day Parade Rehearsal

This was the second  time I attempted fireworks photography.  The first attempt was at my father's resort during new year back in 2009; it was a clumsy impromptu attempt.

This time around, I attempted to capture the fireworks in Singapore National Day rehearsal.  This year is especially special as it marks the 50th year of Singapore's independence.  The fireworks on the actual day (9th August 2015) will be twice of last year's.  

 

I came prepared with a tripod and black card.  Unfortunately the black card didn't help much as there were too much light reflections - I should have used black foam instead, and I didn't have a cable release to use the bulb mode with.

So I arrived at slightly after 5 p.m. in One Fullerton, but the place was already swarmed with people ready to take photos of the fireworks like I wanted to.  I had no choice but to walk further down nearer to the hotel, unfortunately the sight was blocked by a structure - the Fullerton Pavillion.

The celebration started with a parachute performance, but dang...  I didn't bring any telephoto lens to capture the photos.  Then there were fly pasts by many fighter planes, chinook and apache helicopters, carrier planes.  I had the 16mm F1.4 fixed on my X-T1, how I wished I had a second body with tele-lens!!

A fly past tribute to Lee Kuan Yew who passed away earlier this year - He is the founding father of Singapore and quite possibly a most important, if not the greatest leader in South East Asia

When Lindsay turned one

When Lindsay was about to celebrate her 1st birthday my wife had to urgently leave for Jakarta; her grandfather was hospitalized after a critical fall.  Timing couldn't be worse....  But since it was Lindsay's first birthday, I wanted to make sure that she should have it celebrated, no way she should miss it.

So on the actual day we had a simple celebration for Lindsay.  I got a cake and my mom did the cooking while my sister did the decoration.  My brother... well.... He ate the food and sang with the rest of us...  

Lindsay's 1st birthday cake - strawberry short cake

Balinese Holiday 2014

How to define Bali?  Sea?  Mountain?  Mystic?  Culture?  Art?  Tegalalang rice field?  Mount Agung?  Mount Kintamani?  Tanah Lot?  All of those and more perhaps.  Bali is so beautiful; beautiful beach, beautiful mountain, beautiful sunset, beautiful art, beautiful nature, friendly people and so much more. Even Indonesians are absolutely mesmerized by Bali. 

Soccer playing beach boys in Kuta as the sun sets

SEA Aquarium Trip

Back in 2014 during the Idul Fitri holidays, my in-laws visited us as Indonesia was shut down for practically 1 whole week (as they usually do every year).  My wife arranged an array of activities for them, one of them being a visit to the SEA Aquarium in Resorts World Sentosa.

The place is amazing of course, although I did find the venue a bit too dark to my liking.  Quite hard to take decent photos even when I brought my 5D Mark 3 + 24mm F1.4L II Combo.

Before the main entrance we were greeted with this display of Chinese trading ships