Category: I See I Write

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I See I Write

Summer Blog Episode 10 – A Piece Of Work (Final Episode II)

What is a piece of work?

My friend Barbara from Philippine did some research and noted to me that it either means “someone who, although often interesting, is difficult to get along with on an every day basis” or “a remarkable person, achievement or product”.

For some strange reasons, in my mind, when I asked that question, I was looking at “a piece of work” literally as a piece of work.  As in one unit of work.  An innocent question that stemmed from a conversation overheard, outside my office that looks more like a farm.  Maybe I shall compose an article of frequently used and abused terms in my department.

My colleague from India and I often chat.  One morning, like any other morning, she indicated to me her unhappiness towards the many work issues she has.  But these are just work items, I said.  If we have a process to take care of work items, it is a matter of having an issue dropping into this black box called “my daily job” and coming out as a handled issue, which could still be an issue, but it is handled as per the process agreed.

It is like if my daily job is a toilet cleaner, I see dirty toilets coming in and cleaned toilets going out.  Whether a cleaned toilet is indeed a 5-star clean toilet depends on many factors (some public toilets are just impossible to clean, don’t you think?).  The bottom line is, it is a cleaned toilet.  I am neither sad about the dirty toilet nor happy about the cleaned toilet.  But I am delighted about the money I take home that day.

PS. It is quite a miracle that I can write another ‘final’ episode.  I thought I would stop at 9.

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I See I Write

Summer Blog Episode 6 – Who Created Zipper At The Back Of A Dress?

These cannot be coincidences, the more I think about it.

If you are a man, imagine wearing or taking off a shirt with a long zipper all the way up from your waist to the back of your neck.  Or from the low side of your hip all the up to your armpit.  Whoever designed this concept and applied to the day-to-day fashion for the ladies, I wonder if practicality was something he or she had in mind.  But if that makes me, as the man of the house, feel more useful morning after morning, night after night, I am not complaining.

Opening of jars, changing of light bulbs, hooking and unhooking of bras – perhaps there is a conspiracy out there to make us men more useful.  One scene, in Gossip Girl, when Blair said the word ‘zip’ and Serena immediately sprung into action and helped out with the dressing in such fluidity, I could immediately relate.

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I See I Write

SingTel mioTV Gives A Black Screen? Here Is How To Hard Reset Your Setup Box

Update: SingTel called me to propose waiving one month mio Home subscription fees as a token of compensation.  I think it is reasonable and fair.  And he mentioned that I have been a loyal customer for many years, which is true.  Let’s hope that the mio service will get improved.

10 pm, it was the official kick-off 2010 World Cup.  I switched on the free-to-air Channel 5 HD channel on StarHub TV.  No problem.  The image looked beautiful.  Out of curiosity, I switched on SingTel mioTV at the same time.  Black screen, no signal.  Strange.  I have installed the box 2 days ago and it has been working fine, so far.  During half time, I played around a bit more with mioTV and realized that all the channels – live or on demand – were blacked out.  I couldn’t even select an on demand channel.  The menu said that the service was not available because I belonged to a business user group.  Business?!  I am pretty sure I am a regular consumer who wanted to watch World Cup live, free.  Even for that only one match.

To cut a long story short, if you too have experienced the same issue, you need to hard reset your mioTV setup box.  Press OK button, the down arrow, and the power button on your setup box at the same time.  You should see all three indicators (green, blue, and red) on the front panel light up.  Then release the power button and keep the other two pressed.  Once you see the flashing of the indicators, release the OK button and down arrow.  Your setup box should now be reset and it will take 30 to 40 minutes to boot up.

In another word, if you Google the answer to the problem, you would probably only miss 45 minutes of the match.  If you wait for SingTel to pick up the call (like me), you would miss an extra 45 minutes of the match.

I am quite mad at SingTel.  The helpful service consultant told me the network server was down during such an important live event.  When I enquired if SingTel is going to compensate us for not being to view the live broadcast (that is the whole point of paying for cable TV, yes?), she told me that her supervisors were busy.  They will get back to me tomorrow instead.  I am a patience man.  I am eager to hear what they have got to say.

PS. Once you hard reset your setup box, the default resolution is 564i.  You can choose your optimal resolution by pressing the menu button.  Go to settings, channel guide, screen settings, and there you go.  Good as new.

PS. For those of you who have paid close to S$100 in order to watch World Cup on mioTV, well, good luck to you.  If I have to subscribe, I would subscribe the channels on StarHub TV instead.  I am starting to worry about the F1 broadcast now that SingTel has taken over the right of ESPN.

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I See I Write

Asmara Lifestyle At Bishan Park – Singapore’s Best Kept Secret?! – Garden Spa, Restaurants, And More

You have no idea how surreal I felt last evening, when Cynthia and I attended a blogger event somewhere so close to our home.  We have driven up and down passed Bishan Park along AMK Ave 1 so many times a month, in the day and at night.  We had absolutely no idea that behind the rolls of trees there are restaurants, a garden spa, and more.  During the private tour organized by three cordial ladies from Asmara Lifestyle, when we got a chance to shuttle between the bar and the restaurants and the beautiful spa, for a moment, I thought I was inside our Botanic Gardens.  Such serenity and soothing scent.  That brings me to the second reason why I felt so surreal.

I often participate for a blogger event knowing more or less what I am getting myself into.  Bar and restaurants, checked.  Catching up with good friends, checked.  But the spa is a surprised for me.  Pilate?  And nails treatment?  In a way I was relieved that I brought Cynthia along.  Seeing how excited she felt.  But in a way I am a bit weary what this could mean to my credit card bill, having a resort like spa and facility so close to our home.  Then again, since a happy wife means a happy life, I am delighted to have come to know this establishment.

The overall design of this awards winning establishment follows very much to the philosophy of being immersed with the nature.  Initially I observed that some trees appear to be out of place.  Upon inquiry, I realize that the structures are built around the original landscape – trees and etc.  There is a rather huge rock in the middle of a bar, which has been there before the bar was built.  At first, it is strange to see staffs at times hopping over the stone to get in and out of the bar area.  But I suppose this adds another layer of charm to the decoration.  I heard that they may call this new bar “Middle Rock” and intend to bring in live bands for entertainment.  I also heard that they may bring in a projector TV for the broadcast of World Cup.  Immediately I said to Cynthia: You can have the car key, I will have my beauty sleep.

For those who are into garden dining and bar, there is Canopy.  Beautiful ambiance, with different dining theme from month to month.  They are open for breakfast and brunch too.  For the vegetarians, there is Green Room Café.  For both indoors and alfresco dining.  We have tried some of the dishes.  They are delicious.  A must try even if you are not a vegetarian.

OK.  I must admit I can’t write more than my first impression after spending a short albeit lovely evening at Asmara Lifestyle.  I am not a man for spa but I may try it out once and share my experience here with you.  Meanwhile, I have taken a few photos for sharing (see below).  To reach Asmara Lifestyle by bus, you can take Bus 136, 133, and 262 from AMK Bus Interchange.  Or by car, there is a public car park in front of the entrance.  If you come by CTE, exit AMK Ave 1, drive pass Bishan Road and then drive s-l-o-w-l-y.  You wouldn’t want to miss the public car park entrance on your left.  Back to the garden spa, there are 17 rooms in total open till midnight.  Some are for special treatments.  Some are couple rooms that are pretty spacious.  Stay tuned for more write-ups.  For reservation details, please click onto the links below.

The address is: 1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 Bishan Park 2 Singapore 569931.

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I See I Write

The Story Of Yeh Chi Wei – Singapore Art Museum

At the opening ceremony of “The Story of Yeh Chi Wei”, it is heartwarming to hear the late artist’s granddaughter giving a speech on Mr. Yeh Chi Wei’s art and the effort in putting an exhibition together – works by Yeh and works by The Ten Men Group (a community led by Yeh).  It must have been a proud evening for the Yeh’s family as well as Yeh’s fellow artists to see this collection artwork displayed in one of Singapore’s museums.  There is a strong essence of Southeast Asia style in Yeh’s work as he was used to organize painting trips to different locations in the region and exhibit their works together after the trips.  Yeh taught art for 22 years in Singapore and passed away in 1981.

As an Asian, some of the themes I can quite readily relate, which is always a good start in attempting to appreciate the art.  I in particularly am drawn to the usage of powerful black color contrasted with muted colors.  That intensity.  Below are some of the photos I took during the opening event.  As for the event itself, Cynthia and I really appreciate the school kids stationed in front of the key exhibits explaining the artwork to the visitors.  They have done a great job and we love it.  Back to the exhibition, catch “The Story of Yeh Chi Wei” now at the Singapore Art Museum from May 27 to September 12, 2010.

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I See I Write

Don’t Miss the 20th European Union Film Festival Here In Singapore (May 6-16)!

I love to watch European films.  What a coincident that Cynthia and I were invited to a blogger event for the 20th European Union Film Festival.  We had no clue why the event was hosted at Spain Embassy Residence.  Today, I read that Spain is the current rotating Presidency of the EU.  Now I know!  Last year about this time, Cynthia was here to apply a visa for our holiday in Spain.  And since we are learning Spanish, we took the opportunity to converse with our hosts from the embassy.  If they were surprised that some of us spoke Spanish during the event, Cynthia was as surprised when one of the Spanish staffs spoke Bahasa Indonesia with her.  The power of the ability to speak in one’s native language.  The bonding is instant.

Spain Embassy is located in Suntech City.  High floor.  The night view from the embassy is breathtaking, especially when the light was switched off during the presentation of one of the featured films.  I stopped for a moment admiring the beauty of our city, the progress of our society.  While I can’t pinpoint what Singaporean culture is exactly, I think many Singaporeans have worked hard for what we have built today.  As tangible as those high-rise commercial building, as intangible as the financial infrastructure that powers our growth.  And when the film started playing, I was as though being transported away from this city of ours and into somewhere in Europe – so drastically different.  Our hosts have highlighted that European films portray a slice of Europe’s diverse and rich culture.  That sums up well on why I love to watch European films.

Tickets are selling at Golden Villiage VivoCity.  Come join me for the festival!

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“Irina Palm” is a tragicomedy film about a 50 years old widow desperately in need of money for her grandson’s medical treatment.  Stumbled upon a sex shop, she is offered a job that makes about 600 to 800 pounds a week.  Quite honestly, I have no idea how the number adds up.  It is humorous in parts when you get to watch the main actress Marianne Faithfull taking us through, shall I say, the “technical” details of the job.  In other parts, it is pretty tragic.  Such emotional acting between the characters.  The job, the realization of how one’s talent can earn a decent amount of money, the transformation from being poor and desperate to coming to term with the reality, “Irina Palm” is a heartwarming film to watch.  While the topic of this film could be a taboo in some societies, it serves as a reminder to how diverse cultures are at a global level.  If you watch this with an open mind, you would enjoy the film like Cynthia and I do.

“Irina Palm” will be filming at GV Vivocity on May 8 (Sat) at 7pm.  Check out the rest of the program too.  There are 16 films of various topics to choose from. 

External Site: EU Film Festival 2010 Website.

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I See I Write

Realism in Asian Art – Singapore Art Museum – Don’t Miss It

Cynthia and I love to visit museums.  There is always something to learn from these exhibitions.  Last week, we were invited for an exhibition opening at National Art Gallery, Singapore – “Realism in Asian Art”.  And we had the opportunity to hear from the experts in this field talking about the art, the process of setting up the exhibition in Singapore, and the collaboration with our Korean counterpart.

What struck me as distinctly different from most of the exhibitions we have seen overseas is this Asian theme.  As one of the Korean presenters has mentioned that in many ways, we – the Asians – are connected and what one nation has experienced can be related by people of another nation, even if we are living in different locations.  To that extend, realism – an attempt to represent things as they are in real life – is the main theme of this exhibition in walking us through our last century of rural era, worker movement, the war, nationalism, and more.

Cynthia got really excited to see some of the famous Indonesian artists, whom she has studied when she was in Indonesia, featured (see picture above).  It has been an eye opening experience for me to admire the 80 significant artworks from eight Asian countries.  Unlike Cynthia, I don’t have the knowledge of who is who.  Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the event and below are some of the photos I have taken.

If you have time, from now till July 4, do visit our Singapore Art Museum for “Realism in Asian Art”. Admission is free on Fridays, 6pm to 9pm. More details can be found in the official website here.

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I See I Write

So This Is Our Casino 1 Of 2? A Visit To Resorts World Sentosa Singapore

One evening, seated opposite me inside a Japanese restaurant at Wheelock Place, my sister in her supreme cuteness and child like innocence squeezed her fists hard, gesturing in annoyance and said to Cynthia who was sitting next to me, “Does he always play with his phone at the dining table?  Do you feel like grabbing his phone and throw it away?”  For a moment, I thought my little sister meant business.

I was innocence, of course.  I was planning to bring my mother from Hong Kong to visit Resorts World Sentosa tomorrow.  No, the tickets to Universal Studios Singapore were sold out, as the website on my phone said so.  Deep inside, I agree with my sister.  I have spent way too much time on my phone.  Perhaps, in the not so distant future, most of us will be road hazard to one another.  We walk with our eyes on the phone, we drive with our eyes on the phone.

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Even as a non-gambler, I am curious.  Our very first casino branded under the concept of integrated resort.  Followed the rather cheap looking sign “Casino”, we walked down the dark tunnel.  I heard a futuristic musical tune that reminds me of the game Mass Effect 2.  Strange!  Looking at the entrance of the casino (see picture above), imagine masking out the word “casino”, I thought I was inside a Cathedral.  Quite the opposite, of course.

As a Singapore Citizen (or Permanent Resident), we need to pay a S$100 levy per entry (24 hours).  Or S$2,000 for an annual pass.  What a joke that I had to stand outside waiting while sending off my mother (as a foreigner) into the casino.  I wish I could accompany her.  But spending S$100 in order to tour the casino does not worth my hard earned money.  At the entrance, I took out a S$50 note, passed it to my mother and said, “Mom, take you time inside the casino.  Try out the slot machines and win some money for me!”.  I waved to her as she went past the security checkpoint, just like what I used to do when I send her off the airport, which I will tomorrow.

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What a disappointment, which I was not surprised.  At the exit, my mother said to me, “I won S$50 by not gambling it away!”.  As it turns out, the slot machines are too high-tech for her.  What happens to the good old days of putting a coin inside the machine, pull the lever, and if you win, you hear the coins falling onto the tray underneath?  Well, mom, if you visit me this July, just when you think that you can on the television and watch F1, mioTV will need at least 5 minutes to ‘boot-up’.  That is technology for you.

Besides, the machines are in English and she can only read Chinese.  How come I am not surprised?  Not long ago, I was at the station topping up my ezLink Card.  One Chinese girl approached me and asked if I could help her to top up her card because she could not read English.  I tried to teach her on how to top up the card and I gave up halfway.  Too many steps, too many inputs.  No way she could remember what to do.  This is Singapore for you.

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Resorts World Sentosa does not look grand, I must say.  I could not find a seat to read my book while waiting for my mother to tour the casino.  There were house flies inside the toilet.  For a mere 3 hours parking, I had to pay S$10 (on top of S$6 entrance fee to Sentosa).  Peeping at the Universal Studios from the entrance, it does not seem to have the extraordinary feel of, say, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.  Elsewhere in the world, casinos do their best to attract people to visit.  Free and frequent bus rides, free or cheap food and drink, free souvenirs, and tons of entertainment.  What does our casino 1 of 2 have?

Very beautiful cars for sure (and there is a Victoria’s Secret inside!).

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I See I Write

Nokia Christmas Party, By The Singapore River

I have always enjoy attending a Nokia party.  Familiar faces from the traditional media, the new media.  New faces too.  And as I looked across the Singapore River, I was greeted by the enormous Integrated Resort yet to be completed stood silently against the dark evening watching over the inhabitants of the-other-side, us.  What are those floating white ball-like objects in great number gathered along the middle section of the river?  No idea.  While the purpose of their existence may be unclear, those objects made great conversational topic.

What is a Christmas party without games, lucky draws, and Santa Claus?  My blogger friend was so happy when she won the N97 Comes With Music.  Unlimited music download for one year!  She said she would download Lady Gaga’s “The Fame Monster” the very evening.  Ah, Lady Gaga, I like!  If you wonder which recently released Christmas albums I am listening to now, that would be David Archuleta, Sting, Tori Amos, and Gregorian.  And my all time favorite Christmas albums?  Mariah Carey, Jewel, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, and LeAnn Rimes – in that order.  Download them for this festive season if you can.

I was excited by the wireless Nokia headset that has a noise cancellation function.  It feels light.  Great sound (and sound cancellation).  But I was more excited by the upcoming Nokia X6 Comes With Music (see picture below).  It is an interesting product.  Those who like to interact the touchscreen with the fingertips instead of fingernails would feel at home with X6.  Kinetic scrolling, better response (for the “fingertip” users in especially) as well as the eye-candy theme effect that some users value.  The home screen has four main horizontal sections.  The top one is for the favorite contacts, it displays thumbnails of the contacts, and it supports kinetic scrolling.  It acts as a filter for the display of SMS (and latest blog entries I think) by contact too.  Imagine with one click, Cynthia can zoom into all the conversations between me and my female friends. ¡Qué horror!  This phone is not Tiger Woods friendly for sure.  The second one is email.  At this moment, I am unsure if it has to be Nokia Messaging  or if I can pick a hotmail mailbox provided by the MSN application.  The third one is a music player and the last one is favorite shortcuts.  My interaction with X6 was brief.  I think I do like the overall design.  So is it going to be X6 or N97 Mini for Cynthia?  If N97 Mini is not going to be a Comes With Music device, the decision is pretty obvious.

Oooo ... very tempting Nokia X6!

It seems that with a blink of an eye, year 2009 has come to an end.  I still have not decided on where to celebrate Christmas.  Maybe I shall start drafting my new year resolutions this coming weekend?

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For the Geeks I See I Write

Nokia E72 – And The Wait Is Over

The Nokia E72

I have friends who swear by the Eseries (while I am more of a Nseries dude).  When the E75 was out, I asked one friend of mine if she would get that but she got the E71 instead.  Why?  I suppose having the full QWERTY keyboard right underneath the screen does have its appeal, a design without a need to slide out the keyboard.  Knowing that I would attend this Nokia event, I did some homework, ‘interviewed’ my friend and got to know a bit more about Nokia Eseries.

Now that I have touched and felt the new E72, I can understand why my friend – in her own words – loves the Eseries.  For those who are constantly on the go and need an efficient phone and messaging device – both email and instant messaging (and also social networking), the Eseries is optimized for just that.  There are dedicated buttons on the E72 to quickly access the calendar, contact, and messaging functions.  Holding one of these buttons create a new calendar entry, a new contact, or a new message (imagine if my N97 has that!).  There is a button to instantly return to the home screen too and by holding it, you can toggle between various opened applications.  At the center of the phone is the new Optical Navi™ Key.  It senses the motion of your finger (or thumb) as you scroll your long emails up and down.  And you can use that key to scroll through any onscreen items.  From my brief experience, it feels responsive.  And I do like the keyboard design too.  The common punctuation symbols are easily accessible, a different experience I have with my N97.

In fact, the entire phone interface feels responsive thanks to the Symbian S60 3rd Edition operating system.  For those who are already using E71, this could be a worthwhile upgrade for the following reasons.

  • 5 mega-pixel camera
  • 250MB internal memory and supports up to 16GB microSD memory card
  • 3.5 mm audio connector (now you can use the standard earphones)
  • Able to synchronize calendar items to Outlook (on top of emails and contacts that E71 is able to)
  • Better battery performance
  • Slimmer design

And for those who are curious about the key features of email and instant messaging, on email, E72 supports Mail for Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, Nokia Messaging service (lifetime license), and POP/IMAP.  On instant messaging, it supports MSN, GoogleTalk, OVI Chat, Y! Messenger, and more.  E72 is now available in Singapore selling at a RRP of S$750 (excluding operator plan and GST).  If you have questions for Nokia, please drop me a comment here or send me an email.

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I have always enjoy blogger events hosted by Nokia and Text100.  And I had such a great time catching up with old friends, making new friends.  During the event, there was a little contest that involved a bit of instant messaging using the new E72 and a bit of creativity.  Shocking to me, I won this little Nokia Mini Speakers (MD-6).  I have no idea if Nokia does sell those little beauties but had I known such thing exists, I would certainly have bought them long ago.  Great for traveling (comes with a pouch).  And great for playing music in the bathroom while showering too!  These are active speakers taking in 4 AAA batteries.  Definitely better sound quality than the phone speakers, a design more geared towards the XpressMusic series.  So this looks really good pairing with Cynthia’s XpressMusic 5800 than my N97.

What a lovely gift!