Koh Tao Day 1 and 2

I'm now in Koh Tao, just did 4 dives today and my chair feels like it is floating now. The island is quite chut chut and the beach is nothing like Boracay. Slightly better than Sentosa? The town here is smaller due to the size of the island. Fun part is you are highly advised to rent a motorbike. I rented an automatic scooter since I've no license for a bike. Reminded me of the times in Green Island on Taiwan except the roads and places here are still not quite developed. For some parts, there are no road and only trails. Imagine riding a scooter through an offroad trail up and downhill with pot holes and all. Didn't expect to put all my bike skills into use here. Renting one cost 250 THB a day and gasoline is 50 THB a bottle. I like the chut chut town part, its fine with me as long it has the basic necessities but the beach is a no go for me.

Its kind of a laid back feel here. Due to the hot weather, most of the guys will be going around in just boardshots and slippers without shirts. Really damn hot here in the day!! Just ride around to buy food, water, go back slack, dive and so on. I have to make use of the slack time to clear my work here, need to clear all my back logged emails before I get back.

Blackouts are also common here as well and internet connection are intermittent even at the cafes.

Something unique here on this island and probably islands in Thailand. Dry bags are very commonly used here. Almost everyone carries one. Bought a 15L bright yellow one myself and I wonder why didn't I bring one like that to Boracay. I do have a mountain smith day pack but how am I supposed to look after if if I want to go swim at the beach? With the dry bag, I can just bring it along to the water. No diving of course but snorkel or swimming should be alright

The dives today were fine except for the first one where the current was ridiculously strong. Not exactly the ideal condition for testing a set of brand new equipment. really don't think there is much difference between a high and regulator and a cheaper one. The shop owner was telling me that it breathes smoother and all but to me, its the same. I don't mind the premium price as I assume it is more durable.

My main objectives were to get used to my new equipment and to see a whale shark. Haven't seen one yet so hopefully I will have better luck tomorrow. Some of the part time dive masters have been here for 3 months and they have not seen any. Another one said his friend just came and saw it just within a few dives so it is really like flipping a coin.

Something really shitty happened and I rather not talk about it. Thank god I am all alone here so I can emo all I want without affecting anyone.

Off for some pancakes now, i.e. thai style roti prata.

happy

Received this email from a client this morning and it made my day.

"Colin...I can't begin to thank you for all your MAC help...your "contact sheet" idea was absolutely perfect for what I needed to accomplish!!  And even more impressive is you taught me so well I was actually able to do it!!  There were a few bumps here and there...but I worked through them!! You have no idea how perfect and helpful your idea was...I was singing your praises in Texas...hope to see you soon...I need more help!!  Thanks again, JA"

On my way to Koh Samui

I'm now at Bangkok airways lounge for domestic flights. They provide
snacks, drinks, newsweek, Samui map and WIFI for free!

Will transfer to Koh Tao via ferry after that and I can't wait for the
dives tomorrow. The dive shop just told me they saw a whale shark
yesterday morning!

Will sort out "The Beach" hype myth

Have confirmed my flight from Bkk to Koh Samui for a stopover,
transfer to ferry to Koh Tao, dive, dive and dive.
Ferry back to Koh Samui on Friday. Didn't want to stay in Samui for
long but since I am already flying there anyway, might as well stay 2
nights to check out the island. Don't think I will be diving there cos
Koh Tao is the hottest dive island in the eastern gulf coast and one
of the dive trips will cover "sail rock" which is part of Koh Samui.
They are all quite close.

Booked a kayak tour to Anthong National Marine Park. WTH is that park
about? It is the super hyped up paradise looking island as depicted in
the movie "The Beach". I will go see for myself if it is really a
paradise. If I don't return to Sg then probably I am abducted by some
bigfoot.

Its not Jacky Huang this time.

Was referring to someone and it never felt more real than this.

Food photos from Bkk Day 1

Bangkok Day 1

The flight (Jetstar) was slightly delayed but other than that, it was
fine. Did some reading on the islands and tried to watch the movie
"There will be blood" on my iPhone. Before I saw any blood in the
movie, I was already asleep and woke up when the plane was preparing
for landing. Arriving at the airport felt like deja vu since I was
here so recently. My luggage is damn heavy now!!! I am used to one big
backpack so I will prepared to evacuate in case of an emergency. With
the dive gear now, I can't do that.

Met up with Wan and some Thai spinners, then went to the hotel, saw
Dimi, Bu-ko and Soon Seng! Have not met him (actually all of them) for
quite a while and it is funny that we had to meet up in Bangkok.

One of my "to-dos" is to try out more food this time. Had the street
side chicken rice which taste similar to the Singapore version.
Difference is any random stall here will be better than our average
local ones. Tried their version of roti prata. Instead of gravy, they
serve it with condensed milk and chopped up on a Styrofoam plate. It
actually tasted good! Had the banana with egg first. For the second
one, I ordered the ovaltine version which is actually a milo dinosaur
version of roti prata. It is basically a plain prata with condensed
milk on top, lots of ovaltine powder then more condensed milk. SINFUL!
It may be too sweet for me or I am not eating comfortably cos thinking
of my make up runs kills the mood.

2.51am.

//

Why am I always thinking of _?

Maybe its a sign?

Boarding now

Leaving Sg for Bangkok in a few mins.

I used a solid updated packing list just now but I still forgot
something!!! Left my USB cable at home, the one for my camera, have to
buy a replacement when I'm there.

Have also changed my return flight so I can do more dives at Koh Tao
island. Will be taking a domestic flight to koh samui first before
taking the boat and I am still hesitating about exploring there.
Googled online and couldn't find any exciting photos of samui and if
they have burger king and starbucks, it isn't exotic to me.

Will be posting photos regularly... I hope!

Via iPhone

ADEX Dive Retail Therapy

Today was the first day of ADEX 09, dropped by in the afternoon pick
up the other dive gears. Planned to settle for simpler regulators by
Oceanic but after talking to several people and friends, they all
advised me against it. Went looking around for a BCD first. During my
research, I couldn't settle for one because the dive shops here are
scattered all over SG and each carry different range, its difficult to
go all and compare fairly. Thanks to D to suggested Dive Rite's BCDs
cos weight was a concern to me as I planned to travel often with it.
Almost all the jacket style bcds are either too heavy, too expensive
or looked damn chut chut. I settled for Dive rite's black plate
system. The design is so simple but still so freakin ex considering
the amount of materials used to make it. The plain and simple ones of
anything tends to be more ex... Bought a smb together with it and went
on to check out other booths. Most of the booths were of dive agencies
from different islands which was perfect for me. All the brochures
will help me a lot with my future dive trips. I didn't know Christmas
Island is a dive paradise!!! The highlight was M and E who were there
just to accompany and give advice. Trouble is they are non divers and
they have stunned the staff at the booth with all their questions and
comments. Pure comic relief! I certainly need such relief to calm
myself down after spending so much in cash.

Thats just the beginning. The regulators!!! Another freakin ex item,
in fact its the biggest killer among all my purchases. I was deciding
between scuba pro and atomic. I wasn't too comfortable with the people
at the booth selling scuba pro stuff. Bad vibes. Wanted the atomic z3
which was expensive enough. After a long wait, the manager told me they
ran out of stock...After much hesitation, went for the B2, which cost a
bomb.. Came bundled with a free O2 reg. Then got a simple gauge from
the same booth as well.

I was quite in a stake of shock after all the spending and tired after
spending 3 hours at the exhibition. As if I am going to be Jack Bauer
on some mission with all these high tech gear. Also bought 2 books on
underwater photography. Just bought it since the author was there and
he could autograph the books.

One of the booths were talking that sightings of whale sharks are
common in that island waters. Think E asked if it would taste good
with belachan. *FAINT!* Confirm plus chop non-diver. The guy at that
booth was not local so I don't think he understood.

I better not regret all this purchases. Its too late for it anyway. I came back and checked on my budget plan for all these gear. Apparently, I did not blow my budget but I have never spent so much on one shopping session except for buying my macs so I am not used to it.
Just dive more to justify the purchases!

Came just in time!

Just when I was worried my new dive certification card can't arrive in
time for my trip, found it in my mail today!

Dining Bedrock Bar & Grill

More people are starting to talk about this place. Reviews were mixed,
some highly recommended it, some said it was overpriced. Just decided
to give it a go.

When we were about to go in, I was hoping I wouldn't bump into anyone
I know.. and my clients happened to be dining there too. What were the
chances?

When thinking of where to go, I wanted the place to be a little
surprise so I can't use an over hyped place, was taking a chance on
Bedrock. The ambience was perfect, especially for a first date or some
important occasion. The interior was nicely done up with lots of dark
wood, there are shelves of wine bottles all over and you can see the
open kitchen concept on your way to the tables. Their speciality is
in steaks but they have other main courses as well. Their staff were
very attentive and concerned about the dining experience. I always
like the part about eating in such places when they explain the menu
items in detail. Half the time, I wouldn't understand what they are
talking about. Sometimes I like to fantasise about local hawker
explain their dishes in fine dining style.

There was a complimentary freshly baked bread served with salted
butter and roasted garlic. Don't know how they did it but the garlic
was great with the bread and butter. I never used to eat garlic
voluntarily.

When you order the steak, it doesn't come with any side dishes at all.
Everything has to be ordered separately. We ordered mostly their
specialities such as panko salad, smoked tomato soup, steaks, apple
crumble and red wine. The food was great, from the starters to the
main and to the dessert.

The bill was not cheap but well worth it. Price and worth are
subjective. The intangible aspects of the restaurant made up for
everything else that was lacking. I wouldn't go there just because its
dinner time or just because I have the craving for steaks.

There are very few tables in the restaurant so it will be advisable to
make a reservation in advance.

I didn't take any photos because it wasn't appropriate that night and
I won't bother because of the dim lighting. It has the worst possible
condition for iPhone's camera. I could imagine Andrew popping up
beside me with horns and a devil's fork saying "Told you to get the
ixus 100 IS rite?"

Thanks for M for recommending that place. I can't imagine going to
Swensens that night. =p

c1's Guide to Choosing your first Mac

I am asked too often about this so I decided to write this simple guide and hopefully it will help those new switchers on deciding which mac to get. Anyway, It is a lot easier than shopping for a new PC.

First you have to decide between a Desktop or Laptop.

There are 3 types of desktop:
1. iMac ($2k - $3.5k SGD)
The all in one beauty and the recommended mac if you want a desktop. In the iMac series, there are usually 3 to 4 models. Main thing to look out for is the graphics card because once you buy it you are stuck with it without an option to upgrade in future. Other specs like hdd, ram can be upgraded. Don't worry about the processor chip difference among the different models in the series, the speed bumps are minor.

2. Mac Pro ($4k - $29k)
Forget about this unless you plan to set up a anti terrorism CIA office. This is an overkill for general use and typically used by hardcore users. It is a dream machine to have but too expensive. Note that the price range have yet to include monitor so the whole setup can easily cost more than $5k. If you try to configure your own Mac pro at the apple store site, choose all the highest end specs and it can go up to $30 000. That will be nice to have. ;)

3. Mac Mini ($1k to $1.5k)
Don't bother.

If you are planning to get a laptop:
There are 3 types:
1. Macbook ($2k - $3k)
- Value for money
- recommended for most users (students, general use)

2. Macbook Pro ($3k to $4k)
- Most powerful portable you can find. There could be PC laptops with higher specs but they can't run Mac OS on it so it is redundant.
- recommend for hardcore photography, video editing, multi-taskers (I have 20 opened windows of varying applications overlapping one another as I am blogging this post).
- I wouldn't recommend the 17" model as it is just too bulky to travel with it and if I don't intend to travel with it, might as well buy an iMac which is cheaper.

3. Macbook Air ($3k t- $4k)
- Sleek and super portable but too slow (for me) and overpriced
- suitable for executives with no budget constraint and only use it for email and music, probably basic photo management.

Price:
For the prices, you can check out apple.com.sg and get the updated pricing. If you are still a student or a teacher, you can enjoy quite a good discount by clicking on the education price in the apple webstore. Note that if you want to buy using the edu price, you can only do it online. The retail shops cannot offer the edu price to you.

Warranty:
All macs come with only 1 year warranty. Applecare protection plan is an extended 2 year warranty which is very important to buy. Always allocate budget for this when buying a mac. However, you don't have to buy it immediately. You can delay the purchase for a few months and buy it before your mac warranty expires at the end of the 1st year.

Will just start off with this. Post any questions by adding comments to this post and I will update this guide so the rest can benefit as well.

Why didn't I think of that?

I can't believe I totally overlooked the idea of diving in Thailand
since I will be going there again and since I've already visited most
parts of Bangkok. I am now even more excited about the trip!! Which
island should it be this time? Due to the raining season and from what
I have read so far, I am limited to the eastern gulf so there are Koh
Tao island or Koh Samui. From initial research, sights of sharks are
common at Koh Tao so I am leaning more towards there.

Being so used to travelling with just a backpack, now I gotta lug
along my dive gear bag but I think it will be worth it.

Only regret is if I am able to see all the magnificent life forms
underwater, I can't capture images of them. The underwater camera will
have to wait.

Perfect evening to end the day. =)

Down to 186 emails!

I am attached?

Alex just told me that he heard from sources that I was attached.

Really? I also wish to know who the girl is.

Shinjuku Incident

Looks like there won't be any more hardcore Jackie Chan action movies
in future. I was disappointed that the movie was just a mafia movie
with Jackie acting in it. There were none of his usual action moves.
At least there were the bad ass yakuzas in it.

Movie was good but it is something which I will only watch once.

dive gear shopping

Have not shopped for a long time. Went to shop for some dive gear to
prepare for my trip this weekend and next month.

ADEX is just next week but the shop already started the sale in their
retail outlet so I am satisfied with my buy, especially the wetsuit!!!
It wasn't easy just to find something simple, plain and black. Went
around a few dive shops last week to scout. They are too ex, too much
designs and there are the really nice but super ex ones that make you
look like a x-men character. No kidding!!! There is no need to look
that violent underwater.

The simplest looking and plain design that I initially like was the
Gull (response) that cost $330. Found the oceanic one today which is
plain enough for only $140!

It was a happy day. Will wait till Adex next week for the BCD and
regulators.

Whats with Barney?

My little niece - Zelene is so addicted to Barney now. Could even
watch it repeatedly till the disc is spoilt.

Don't understand the draw of it but at least he and his friend look
better than Teletubbies.

There is more to these trees

Recently, someone stumbled onto my blog when researching for travel info of Taiwan. She was kind enough to send me an article of the story behind the trees.

Excerpt from China Post website:

One such location can be found by No. 21 Cross-Island road at the altitude of 2600m, not far from Tataka (塔塔加) saddle of Yushan National Park, where two massive Formosa cypresses give a reminder that nothing lasts forever. They are called Fucishu (夫妻樹) or “Husband and Wife” in memory of an old story of a young couple whose parents would not allow their marriage. The desperate lovers decided to jump off a rock in Tataka and the two trees grew up on the spot where their bodies fell.

The trees had been there from time immemorial, but as noted above, nothing lasts forever. In 1963 a huge forest fire ravaged Tataka Saddle and the Fuci Trees did not escape its flames. Even though some visitors have noticed green leaves budding from the dry trunks and hoped for their revival, it was unfortunately a false hope, as the leaves belonged to other plants, and the Fuci Trees proved to be dead without any possibility of coming back to life.

As a matter of fact, authorities fenced the area around the trees to prevent injuries from falling branches, and experts warn that the trees may collapse within just a few years (as was the case several years ago of another iconic dead cypress tree in Alishan). So if you are keen on seeing the lovers' trees, you'd better hurry before the typhoon season arrives.

I vaguely remember that the guide was mentioning something about the trees but it was a very short few minutes stop before we continued the drive up Yu Shan (Jade Mountain?). He was explaining in Chinese plus it was 5:13am in the morning, I was almost sleep walking.

The story adds more meaning to the photo now. Wish I was there longer to look at the trees.

Email sign off

I've never really like the idea of email sign offs because most of the
time they are just there for the sake of being there. E.g. Regards,
Best Regards, Best Wishes, Cheers, etc. There were times I try to sign
up in a funny manner if the email was informal and sent to close
friends.

Today was way cool. For the first time, I can sign off "May the force
be with you always" in an email response to a company who expressed
interest in my training lessons(macenrich side). The cool part is that
email sign off is totally legit and understood by them. I hesitated
for a while before deciding to sign off using that. I was thinking if
it will be too informal. Screw it. Just whack, its now or never.

Been searching for a solution for months and finally found it by
chance. That would mean another major upgrade on spinworkx site again.
Not the whole site but one important part. That means more coding
again but I am still looking forward to it.

205 emails

Sitting quietly at Starbucks below my shop clearing emails. 205
emails. That is a record. I have another 400 back logged emails to
clear. It never seems to end but it is better than seeing 600 emails
to clear.

A few more mass email clearing sessions like this and I will be back
on track.

sleepless

I planned to watch "The Abyss" tonight but by the time I got home at
12 plus. If I were to watch the movie, it will end at 4 but I need to
get up at 5.30. Decided to postponed the movie night and turn in
early. Kept tossing about and I am still wide awake at 4am. I tried to
blame my pillow but I admit, it is all because of next week, one
evening.

It is different from all the rest. Never felt the same way.

I have seen this.

Was reading the recent issue of Times and there was an article on
endangered species. There was a tortoise that looks very familiar.

The photo is blurry but the caption says:
Ploughshare Tortoise - Prized as a pet, it is one of the rarest
tortoises on Earth.

Looked back my Bangkok photos and found the same tortoise that I saw in Chatuchak market.

Bkk again

Will be going to Bangkok again end of the month to judge in the Thailand Yo-yos Nationals. Was researching online on other places to visit in Bangkok and found this.

Crocodile Farm: 

Is 30 kilometres away from Bangkok, and you can pretty much devote a whole day to it with transport etc included. It is very close to the Rose Garden so you might as well do them both at the same time.  It is an enormous place with over 60,000 fresh and seawater crocodiles to see. They have feeding where you can buy chicken to throw to the crocs, and they also have a show every hour, where a brave or perhaps crazy guy puts his head inside the crocs head etc. If you do not have much time in Bangkok missing this will not be a serious mistake and something that you can always catch on another visit. Admission is 300 Baht for adults and 200 Baht for children. The farm opens from 7 am to 6pm. The farm also houses other creatures such as snakes, gibbons, lions, and trained elephants. They even have a small dinosaur museum, where life size dinosaurs and their skeletons are on display.

Crocodile Farm is now on the list.

plastic

Attended my cousin's wake on Monday evening. His motorbike accident
must be bad if the mortician fixed him till he looks like a mannequin.
I am not trying to be funny about it but that was really how he look
in the coffin and it is upsetting. I don't see deaths enough yet so I
am not that used to it. I am just entering the phase of life where I
have weddings to attend. Phases later, funerals will be next. Cycle of
life.

It was ironic when his brother came up to me and asked if I was
alright and said that I look tensed. What else can I say? There lies
my cousin in the coffin who was a great son to his parents and has a
bright future ahead but it was all gone within seconds.

Life can really be shorter than you think. We won't know how short
unless we have access to God's 'secret book' (coined by my AO sisters)
so just push each day to the fullest.

I was told that he was covered by life insurance and the payout was
100k. This part disturbs me. Is that supposed to be a consolation?

//

Maybe my father did the right thing by being strict enough and
prevented me from riding. Thats how I took up biketrials. From the
falls and accidents from that alone, maybe I am better off not riding
a real motorbike.

Happy Birthday Kelvin!

The birthday boy is the second from the left.

I can't remember how was my 25th birthday like.

Thanks to Cindy for the photo.

West Coast Classic 2009

Last Sunday was the first local competition of 09, West Coast Classic
held at Ulu Pandan CC. It was a small contest held indoors so it was a
lot more slack compared to running nationals. Couldn't have pulled it
off without the good help from the guys like Andrew, Alex, Roy, Cheng,
Qingwen, Andy, Ah Juan who were helping out with the 'sai-gang' party.
Things got challenging when I started to source for a printer (for the
banner) on Saturday when the event is on Sunday. I hate taking risks
like that but I love such challenges to just make difficult things
happen.

I think / hope the guys did have fun at the contest. It is just a warm
up to SYYC in end May so its time to start planning that. I am also
glad to see new talents at the contest who did really well. They are
going to be our future of the spinning scene!

The event was easy to execute but I was exhausted! Went back after
dinner and concussed at about 10.45pm and woke up at noon on Monday.

These are some of the photos taken from that day, all courtesy of Andy.

A client called me this afternoon asking me for advice on which Mac
should she purchase. It will be her first mac so she is unsure about
some facts. She want to clarify cos she said many of her friends
warned her that macs are unfriendly to use and it is difficult to
import videos from the older dv cameras.

I just replied:

Me :"Are any of those friends using a mac?"

Her reply: "No."

Me: "Then how do they really know?"

She went on to buy a mac after that.

Record for emptying trash

Never underestimate anything.

Was supposed to be a quick job. Enter, empty trash, set some settings
and exit.

Who knows that there are 500k plus files in it??? Had to wait 1.5hrs
for it to be emptied..

?

I can't help but to notice this ad in the advertisement column of
facebook.

The looks and description all... out of this world.

words from a taxi driver

Recently, people around seemed to be more concerned about me than usual, often probing about my love life. Even my clients would talk among themselves trying to set me up with someone. I have to admit that I am getting too deep into my work, taking care of 3 things, that is as much as I can handle. I am just getting too comfortable with my singlehood so when someone asked me about such matters again, I would question myself. What is wrong with the way I am now. What is wrong with being single? I have lost track of my goals in terms of my personal life and I am not too bothered about that because frankly I am quite happy with the way I am now. But I still seek an answer to the question of why would I want to really start finding someone as I couldn't find a justifiable answer on my own.

Earlier this evening, I was in a taxi on my way home. The driver was a 69 years old man and he said he was just driving to past time. Money isn't important to him now that he is already 69. He just wants to get by with a simple life with his family. His son was waiting for college to start and he is only 24 going to SIM. The uncle driver quickly added that he had a late marriage at 39.

He left some last words for me for the night saying: "Take it from me, don't follow my mistake and settle down so late."

I did not expect my personal questions to be answered so indirectly random.

Just like that

My brother just returned from camp this morning and woke me up. Told
me that our cousin just passed away last night in a motorbike
accident. We are not close but afterall we are still related by blood
so I can't help but feel upset about it. On usual days, we just live
on with our work and daily tasks. We will overlook that death can be
around any corner and it is unfortunate that we need the death of
someone we know to remind us about that fact.

Looking for divers for Tioman dive trip

Leave on 17th night (Friday) and return on the 19th (Sunday).

The dive season just started in March after the monsoon so there are
limited vacancies.

Contact me asap if interested.