A great holiday for the kids.

Apologies as I did not take much digital shots nowadays so some of the photos may need to be scanned and posted later.  I have been shooting but was being very selective recently on my shots.  I think the main reason is I am shooting in film medium more rather than digital.  I had also send in my a900 for shutter replacement.  I have not serviced it for more than a year so I send it in to Camera hospital for CLA and replaced the shutter.  It should last me for at least another 3 or more years as I don't shoot with it that often nowadays.

The week to Singapore was much more enjoyable this round as there are more things for the kids to enjoy at my sister's new house.  My mom and sis has moved to a HDB flat while the old house was renovated and prepared to be rented out.

There are some newly furbished playground just below our block and almost every morning we would bring the kids to play.  

We also went swimming at Tampines Swimming Pool.  Kids loved the slides :P

So much so that when we tried to leave the pool, boy boy throw a big tantrum and everyone was staring at us. Luckily I brought along a pre-mixed bottle of milk for him.  Works everytime.

We spent most of the time exploring around our new neighbourhood.  Wife also spent some time off with some new friends from Maesai that we got to know from this humble website :)

Its a bit less hectic than last year and we did not visit any major attraction this year even though the weather was kind to us.  Both of them got a bit darker from the swimming and running around.  All in all good fun.

I would also like to offer an apology to those who miss the opportunity meeting us during this trip.  Another time maybe!  :)  

Busy month.

I'm back in LOS and the kids are happy to see me.  So's my wife whom seems to be a little worn out from taking care of the 2 little monsters for the pass month.  I will be quite busy this month.  Firstly is to remodel my study.  I had brought back my film scanner and 24" display.  Also my NAS from my home in Singapore.  Which means I could build another station in my studies just for photo editing and scanning.  The mac mini will be the chosen one for this task.  My old PC will take the old monitor and will be used my girl for her games.  (Normally if I start using the computer she would want to play) So its much better for me to have 2 stations at home side by side.  Which means at least I could be doing something besides looking at her playing dressup games :P

Then I need to settle my little shop house.  Still under construction but having its finishing touches.  I might fly back to SG too if time allows (or if I'm bored :P).  Girl's term just ended so its a month holiday for her.  So it will be hectic for us as the kids will be at home.

Some of you also wondered why I have not posted photos recently.  Actually I shot some while in Singapore but never found the time to scan it.  I plan to do it today once I setup the scanner later.  I also tried shooting with the beast and the GIAGANTO 250mm today..... verdict... I think I won't be using it often... bloody heavy and hard to focus with such a small finder mask... Most probably will use it for my landscapes though...

Will post more later.  2 monsters calling me.... :p

1 year multiple entry Visa for Thailand.

I went to apply for my multiple entry Non-Immigrant 'O' Visa at the Thai embassy today. It's my first time doing it actually.  

The documents required are exactly the same as the single entry except one thing.  The amount of money you have in your bank :P  (Thai's learning from SG, if you want to stay in Thailland for long, you must have moola :P)

Anyway, printed and endorsed my bank statements this morning at my bank and went straight down to the embassy.  There were some silly hiccups at the counter.  This is because they recently changed the rules of applications and its actually much more tedious to get approval.  A lot of the people in the Q were acutally denied on the spot or asked to come back with their more documents.

First change are the fees.  A whopping $50 SGD for Tourist Visa and $100 for single entry Non-immigrant 'O'.  It used to be free for the Tourist and Transit Visa.  $30 if I'm not wrong if you take the Non-immigrant 'O' for non-Singaporeans.  So some actually didn't have enough cash on their hands and have to rush back to their hotels to get their money.

2nd thing is the air tickets.  On their website, they actually asked people not to buy air tickets before applying for the visa as they might be rejected.  But they want to see the confirmed air tickets this time round before you even apply!  This is a big one.  Lots of people were fustrated with this change as its like a chicken and egg issue; I buy the airt tickets but you reject me how?  And I don't buy, you don't allow me to apply.  I think they really need to update their website on this one.  I see a lot of people came without a ticket and was sent home (I also kena the last time so I came prepared this time :P) 

Anyway, the Q was pretty long, waited about half an hour before it's my turn.  The same old Malay lady who serves me (quite a few times) greeted me and we chatted a bit :)  (Me old bird liao).  I asked about the 3 yr multiple entry and she said that is only for investors.  (Money again.)  Not applicable for Non -O hehe..  Anyway, all my papers were in order and approved on the spot.  Collection is tomorrow after 2pm as usual.  And one more change actually, the collection time was reduced from 2pm to 3pm only (last time used to be up to 4pm) 

So I guess I won't be going through this motion for the next 12 months.    That's pretty good news to me actually.

For those who are interested, you can see the latest fees and required documents for application of Thai Visa over here at the SG Thai embassy website.

PS:  A little update in LOS.  Called wife today and she mentioned that our flock of chickens had laid 2 eggs... hehehe.. Girl girl is very happy and she checks on them all the time.  Boy boy blur blur but oso excited :)

Cheeky boy.

Wife told me this 2 weeks ago via phone but I never found the time to jot this down in my blog.  Pretty funny incident about my boy.

It happened while I was away and wife' childhood friend came back to Maesai from Bangkok for a visit.  She has a baby girl about 6 months younger then my son.  (My boy is 2 btw :P)

After dropping my daughter in school.  They have a little gathering at her house and boy boy was playing happily with the little girl.  All was normal until nap time.  The baby girl has a strict nap time and she went to sleep on her little mattress.  My boy, being alone, get bored easily and slowly drift into his sleep too.   Wife naturally just placed him next to his new found friend on the same mattress.  

10 mins later, her friend checked on the 2 kids and found my boy basically has all his hands and legs wrapped around her little girl... hehehe.  She smiled and jokingly complained to my wife that her daughter kena "eaten" (taken advantaged of) by my boy liao.  Wife went in and took a look and yup, my boy was hugging the little girl like a pillow.  Very usual of him.

An hour later, I guess the little girl sensed she was not alone on the bed and woke up.  Immediately she cried and make up a big fuss.  Here's the funny part.  My boy never likes people to disturb while he is sleeping (even my wife and I).  He would cry and throw a tantrum if anyone just woke him up.  So my wife was expecting him to make a big fuss but surprise surprise... he didn't.  He just smiled back at my wife, look at the crying little "girlfriend" and gave a funny sly grin.  Macham like (hehehehe, I got what I want liao) :P.  Wife and her friend broke out laughing.  Too bad I wasn't around, could take a photo of this little sly dog...  Wonder where he get that sly genes from ..... :P

Just for a record.

I am actually a very camera shy person (all the way back since I became a teenager).  And its only these recent few years that I started teaching photography at SLCC that I actually allowed my students to take photos of me.  Slowly (and painfully) this camera shyness erodes away....

My father is an avid photographer and he took many many photos of me and my sister when I was a baby and child.  I have sorted most of my old photos and its a bit sad when I had difficulty finding a photo of him with me. The reason, of course you should have guessed it.  He was the person behind the camera.  

I went through the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of photos I took of my family and sad to say, those photos with me in it are just sucky... hehehe.. mainly because the person behind the camera sucks... or maybe the main reason is I look sucky :P

But I do want to have more photos of me with the kids, for record purpose and so I did.  Took some 3000B today.  Just 2 shots left in the back so I set the camera on tripod and focus the camera beforehand.  Posed with the kids while my wife triggered the shutter.

So for record purpose.. here are the photos.. :)  Taken on the night of 6 Aug 2011 @ 930PM. 

Both photos taken with the new 100mm 2.8.  Yup the lens vignettes on the Instant 100 film but I just loved it!