Toys for the children

Apologies for the lousy shots of the toys as I took them at 4am in the morning.   After working for 6 consectiuve nights, I still need some time to go back to my old normal time zone.   I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so decided to write a short entry.

Girl's birthday is on the 18th May.  (The main reason why I would be going back on the 10th May).  So naturally, I need to get her a birthday gift for her.  I asked her on the phone and she gave me the usual answer... I want a Barbie doll!

I actually don't really like toys without any form of education or stimulation in it.  Figurines are actually one of them as I find it as just a fad (because of TV or a movie).  But my sister reminded me that dressing up dolls and playing with them is actually a good form of brain stimulation and creativity.  That kind of seal the deal for me so I got her a Barbie doll set.

Not just any Barbie doll set but a Design your own Barbie doll set!  

I found this at Tampines Toy'r'us and I was quite happy Mattel thought of such a wonderful idea.  It even comes with refills sets for additional dresses, templates, markers or stickers!  Pretty good toy!  I got the starter set for her.  It comes with the doll, 5 blank coloured dresses,some stickers, markers and 2 templates for her to design and colour.  Girl loves to colour so its really god send.  I also have some permanent sparkling colour markers I got for my Instax photos and this should be able to be used on the set too.  Which means she would have more that 3 choices of colour markers for her dress. :)

I plan to guide her in the process of making it when I'm back with her.  (Actually I want to play oso :P hehe)

I think this is a better set then those pre-made sets on the shelves.  Yes, those are more colourful but less meaningless then this one.  All dresses are a personal design and totally unique.  How cool is that? :)

 Girl's toy was easy.  But not for my 3 yr (coming) old boy.  Need to get one for him just in case he snatches his sister's.  It's the age of not too small and not too little :P.  Hard choices.  A transformer toy would be too difficult for him and those toddlers toys would be too mudane to him.  Wife and girl girl mentioned to me over phone he loves Ben 10 cartoon so I also got him a doll..... 

Yes, I know it's a figurine.  I broke my rules but hey, ain't rules meant to be broken? :P  Hope he likes the "Fourarms" 

My New (Used)Ride

Fully UnfoldedMy first foldie was the Strida 5.1 I bought in 2008.  I sold it away in 2010 when I decided to quit my job and return back to Maesai.  Fast forward to the beginning of March when I decided to come back to work.  I started to miss riding a a bike in Singapore.  After 3 weeks of bus rides to office.  The excruciating pain of the bus system here compels me even more to get one.  At first I plan to get a normal bike but my new flat (currently staying at my sis's new HDB flat) is just too small to house a full size bike.

As the idea of getting foldie comes back to me, I started to think about the Brompton folding bike and other brands such as Dahon and Birdy. I have a friend who is also using a Dahon and I asked for his opinion on his bike and he's quite pleased with it.  I started to do more research about the bikes.  I would prefer something that would folds neatly and perform better than my Strida.

Yesterday was my day off and I started a round island trip looking at the bikes from 3 different shops.  I narrowed down to the Brompton and Dahon.  I was leaning towards the Brompton as it really really folds up into a very small package (which is my 1st major citeria).  Then I learnt about a Brompton clone called Flamingo Nex 7 which looks mightly similar of the Brompton fold and at least half the price point of the Brompton.  Money was still a major issue, I'm willing to spend but I have a limit as I still have not earn enough OT to get such big ticket items yet.  I was planning to go down to another bike shop in the West that has the Flamingo Nex 7 to take a peep but that silly old me went to the local bike forum togoparts.com.  Itchy hand I went in and searched for a WTS (Want to Sell) thread for a Brompton.  Bing!  Returns 1 under utilised black Brompton M6R at a pretty good price.  Still above my budget but out of curiosity and (trying my luck).  I messaged the guy and asked for the best price (which is my budget).  Took a minute and he replied he is willing to let it go at my price!! Whee... took a cab down and checked out the bike.  Paid and left :P

Folded My first encounter with the Brompton was actually in 2008, when I visited Diginexx to get my Strida.  The owner of the shop showed the Brompton to me but the price tag was just too high for me to justify one at that time as I was only planning to use the bike mainly for commuting between my house and office.  After riding on the Strida for a year plus,  I found that the size of the folded Strida is not as elegant and also it's a bit big and cumbersome to carry around (I could only wheel it).  Not the case for Brompton.  It's slightly heavier but because of it's compact size, I could carry it easily when folded and even wheel it by just extending the seat post.  The other thing is the 6 speed gear which means climbing a hill (around Bedok Reservoir Road) is no longer a pain the ass for me old fat arse.  I always have a hard time along that stretch on my single speed Strida.

I bought the bike at Senkang near Hougang and there was a bike connector.  I took out my handphone and was pleased to find out that the connector would lead me to Hougang Ave 10 which I could hitch a bus back to my office in Kaki Bukit.  I unfolded the bike (many thanks to Gary who sold me the bike and provided some good tips in folding and using the bike) and took a short ride to the bus stop via the park connector.  Its good!  The initial acceleration is less then the Strida but much smoother ride.  Even though its on 16" wheels.  It was a 10 min ride to the bus stop.  I was taking it easy as I was trying to get used to the gearing system.  

I folded the bike and board the bus and dropped off at Ubi.  I decided to take a test ride home on the bike.  The whole journey was about 40mins.  I was not speeding, just crusing along the pavement as I was really testing out the bike and looking out for a better path to get back home.  

I think the current construction around the area meant I have to take a big detour to get back to Bedok Reservoir Road.  There were a lot of rude speeding cyclists I met along the way and I don't really dare to cycle on the road as I did not have my helmet on with me.  Moreover, I have not been cycling on SG's road for more than a year.  All in all, I enjoyed the ride and the bike as well.  Some people disliked the mustache handle bars but I kind of like it a lot.  It allows me to have a much upstraight riding position.  There are some minor peeves on the bike I wish it could be better.  First are the cheap plasticky shifters for the gears, seriously, for this price I hope it could be better, it looks like it would snap easily.  I think it would be difficult to swap them as I have read that most of their parts are proprietary.  Another peeve is the umarked seatpost.   Think I need to use a marker to mark my height.  I stopped twice just to adjust the height of the seat.   Other than that, its a good buy.  Ride is really smooth and the frame is well formed and sexy.  All in all, I love it.  I planned to get a few upgrades.  First, I need some lights!! Then a Brooks seat for my butt.  The seat is good but those Brooks leather seats just look awesome!!  Then a bag or luggage carrier!  I guess I still need to spend a lot more than I expected :P

Parking Mode

PS: Apologies for the lousy photos of the bike in my room, I was actually hiding it from my mum.  Well, let's just say she still sees it in the end and immediately after that was followed by a barrage of nagging of how dangerous it is to commute with a bike on SG road.... :P     

This really really looks interesting. (Galaxy Note)

Picture taken from Samsung Galaxy Note mini-website.I bought my phone Nexus 1 about 2 years ago. Well actually 3 more months is will be its 2nd year anniversary and I was scouting around for a new phone.  You will be surprised that iphone 5 was actually in my list until Apple didn't release it.  They just updated another iPhone 4S which I think is not much of a difference from my wife's white iPhone 4.  So that's out.

Scouting around I saw this.  The galaxy note!  The real real thing that really get me hooked was the stylus.  Probing furthur its a dream come true!!  The stylus is finally back!  I think I have mentioned before I like to use a pen to jot things down and I missed using my Windows Mobile or Pocket PCs in the 90s.  It was my best working organiser. 

Morever, the size is also about the same as my old Compac IPAQ 3600!!  Yes, it's a bit big for a phone but the screen size will be great for writing (I find using a stylus on my Touch Cruise a big challenging sometimes nowadays as I was so used to my N1.  

The name was well chosen too.  Note!  Just like a note book.  Alas, it was not running the latest ICS like Galaxy Nexus but the stylus and with Android, this will be a good combo.  Price wise I heard it will be about 1k SGD... pretty expensive.  Arrgghh......

Mamiya Press Universal "The Beast"

I gave my new MF camera a nickname.  I called it The Beast! :P Because its huge!!  Its really the largest camera body I have worked with (maybe except the Mamiya RB67).  Just click on the images and you can see a blown up photo. The lens is a 75mm Sekor.  All was not smooth when I got it from ebay in Japan.  The 100mm lens that came with it was severely damaged when it was shipped here.  The seller was honest and tried to look for another copy of the lens for me as a replacement.  I then saw he listed another lens that I planned to get (but not so soon actually because of the price..... )  One of the best lenses Mamiya made during that era.  The 75mm f/5.6 Sekor.  I made some calculations and decided to buy this lens instead of waiting for the 100mm.  Since the latter is frequently seen in ebay while this is quite rare.

The seller was honest and gave me a discounted price! I recieved the lens since last Friday and I could finally shoot with the beast!  I tested the Polaroid back and a roll of Tmax 4 and so far so good.  It looks promising but its definitely a camera that needs to get used to.

Firstly, as you can see from the pictures, the grip is actually on the left so if you are left handed, this camera is built for you!  I had a tough time getting used to hold the camera steady while I focus with my right hand.  Its very akward in the beginning and my first roll of Tmax could tell as most of the shots are a bit blur..  Sharp but not razor sharp like my Hassy.  I think one of the reason is it has been raining for the pass week and I am spoilt with fast lenses in my 35mm arsenal :P  This lens max aperture is only 5.6... :P  So some shots was actually taken at 1/8 seconds indoor... Still, sharpness is acceptable.  And for those who think why I could shoot at 1/8 handheld with such a monster. 

2 reasons.  1st one, it's a RF!  So no mirror slap like the Hassy!  2nd, its shutter is on the lens and its a copal shutter! Soft sweet and almost quiet shutter!  So its actually much quieter to shoot with this camera.  (another reason why its a press camera)  

The camera was first produced in the 1967s.  As it names implies, it is for press photographers during that era where 35mm was still not the main work horse in press industries.  The reason is if they need to print big in newspaper (like a full page), they need bigger negatives at that time as printing technology is still at its infancy stages.  Nowadays, we dun really need such huge negatives.

Overall, I am very impressed with this little investment.  I paid about a thousand SGD and a bit more for the body, 2 backs and the 75mm lens with hood , finder plus shipping (twice).  Will write more once I shoot more with it :) And here's a last photo of me holding the camera to my face as a comparison.  The huge lens mount and open back... hehehe.. Just a big metal box...

I like BiG BiG Transparencies... :P

Before I continue.  I just want to post that the "Red" shirts has won the election (again),  not surprising to me but its a bit surprise that it a win by a bigger margin.  So I guess the upcoming few months will be crucial.... hopefully those minor yellow pigheads will see the result and move on.

As the title suggests, I like big transparencies or the more common word - slides.  35mm slides have always astounds me with their rich colours and I have been shooting them for years.  It was a chance in the late 90s, (think is 1999) that I happened to see my first 8x10(inches) slides from a landscape photographer.  It blew me away!  The colours and just the level of details on that page (yes, its a bloody page) are just amazing.  He has just developed it at the lab and the lighttable was not really that big enough to view the entire thing.  Looking through the loupe will make you drool even more  :)

During that time, its still relatively expensive for me to shoot slides and develop them.  Its only when I started working and earning money that I started to shoot more slides.  And then the digital age came and colour slides seems to have lost certain ground to the new digital SLRs.  Its only until recently I got myself a used Hassy to start shooting 6x6 slides again and refound my interest in a bigger transparency.

On the top 35mm slides, Bottom left is the recovered negative portion of the fuji instant fp100c and the bottom right is the 6x9 BW negative I just developed, shot on my new Mamiya Universal Press.

  So 6x6 is fine except I yearn for a 3:2 aspect ratio instead of a square format.  The main reason is that I have mainly shot 35mm my whole life (which is 3:2 aspect ratio).  So I feel so much comfortable composing in 35mm rather than my Hassy.  It's beem 2 years of constant shooting, but I still find I lack something in my photos.  I constantly still need to crop most of my landscapes to make it work and I just hated to waste such film space.  So its natural for me to look for something larger and similiar in the aspect ratio.  645 and 6x7 are 4:5 ratio and its already quite close and there are tons of cameras supporting that format.  But since printing is not my first priority, the final negative or postive is more important to me so naturally, I decided to look for cameras that shoot in 6x9 which is in 3:2 format!  

And I found my answer after doing some research online.  The Mamiya Universal Press.