keep it real

another two weeks of great experiences!


-two photoshoots over the past two weeks! the learning curve is not as bad as i thought. by the second one i was starting to get the hang of it. the results are fabulous for a first timer like me but there's still plenty more to learn :) the first one was quite horrible because of the heavy rain (the model and i got completely drenched) and i had to end up shooting in pitch darkness which led to quite a lot of blurry shots. after the shoot was the best time though, we somehow managed to find a starbucks outlet in the middle of shenton way and the hot white chocolate mocha did great justice to the two shivering bodies.


-cornering with a class 2 bike is damn fun. somehow i find a class 2 bike safer than a 2B one. i tried the CG125 back at driving school, it is one piece of crap that i will never even dream of owning. the brake pedal slips damn easily and the seating position is damn rubbish. compared to the VFR, i don't even feel comfortable cornering at 40kmh. the VFR feels more like a car in this aspect.

-christmas is coming once again and i have decided to be more PROACTIVE this year. every year it's just ATTENDING gatherings, dinners or parties. this year i will be hosting one, complete with my room done up in christmas deco, good music and CHRISTMAS DRINKS that i brew myself. no whiskey or hard liquor though, i'm in the process of making a drink that WARMS THE HEART AND SOUL of friends and family. it will basically consist of HOT CHOCOLATE, with a hint of CARAMEL BAILEYS, a dash of NUTELLA and topped with MARSHMALLOWS (subject to changes according to feedback). prototypes are looking promising, with the baileys providing a nice coffee-like aftertaste minus the bitterness and caffeine. i'm trying to incorporate some kind of hazelnut into the drink somewhere, but maybe later (inspired by starbucks' christmas toffee nut blend).

-i'll buy a chirstmas tree this year for my room, but most probably a fake one (i can't bear to see those coniferous plants die a slow and terrible death in the humid tropics of an equatorial country). i've still got my christmas lights, which will go on my bike and my tree.

-sean, shannon and i are contemplating setting up a christmas photo stand for some part of singapore where the decorations are nice enough, then we'll take photos for people and email it to them for free. it's all about CHRISTMAS KARMA! i've been doing too many bad things this year and unless i want santa to put landmines under my tree, i'd better be a good man.

-christmas mass is not on this year, it is SIAO ON!!

-leaving for shenzhen on the last week of 2009. anyone want fake stuff please let me know. i have these few things in mind already:
-fake bell & ross watches
-16/32GB compactflash card (so i can shoot in RAW + L JPEG)
-clothes clothes clothes
-shoes shoes shoes
-china made cellphones for gifts (LOL)
-full body massage everyday
-hot bubble milk tea

-three more photoshoots to go for 2009. i don't mind having more. the more the merrier.

-i haven't touched my bike for AGES. like months. i can't remember the last time i used it, i think it was back during unit cohesion. it is now covered in dust, the tires are more or less flat and i bet the chain needs some serious lubrication. i will bring it out tomorrow anyway, it needs to be conditioned once in a while. i do not like the idea of equipment failure at all.

-went to TWG with daren and elly earlier tonight. first time there, i tell you the names of the teas are very tempting but somehow the aroma doesn't quite match the name i think. but you can never be satisfied when you go there because of the number of types of teas they have. it's like, serial numbers with 4 digits. it's quite impossible to try everything at one go. i decided on this tea called 'sweet france' today and it had this interesting guava smell. the tea wasn't too bad, the ambience was really good (i heard northern lights playing on the hi-fi a few times) and the company was just right. it gave me a new place to consider if i had to discuss about important stuff. i'm not sure about the pricing, but daren said it was around 12 bucks per person. before i went there i thought it was like $12 per cup but i realised it was $12 per pot of tea, which came to about 5 to 6 actual cups. that's not too bad, it lasts long enough to hold a decent conversation with a good friend, a business partner (which is especially important) or someone you love :)

-i've created some sort of 'power breakfast' in camp. i'm always not eating breakfast when i stay in because the cookhouse is too damn far away and i hate waking up at 6am just to eat (i'd rather wake at 7.30 :P). it simply consists of two sachets of ovaltine, mixed ice cold with rice crispies and then i dump this huge mountain of froot loops into the resultant mixture. it can keep me going till lunchtime. also, it only takes less than 5min to make which makes it useful when i have to move out quickly.

-ah, time to get my good sleep on my nice bed and take my two wheels out first thing in the morning :)