hooked on blogs…

Many years ago, I happened to come across the web pages of a Japanese photographer who took photos of Tokyo’s buildings and surroundings. Those photos immediately caught my attention at the time because they were different in that the buildings, trees, cars and people in it all looked like miniatures. That was the first time I learned of “tilt and shift (T&S) photography”.

Recently, while researching camera lenses, I found out just how expensive one of these T&S lenses can be, so I  looked up the web for photo-editing software that might achieve similar results but at a fraction of the cost.

I found two websites, one which allowed you to upload your photo, edit it online by tweaking a few settings and download the tweaked photo to your computer. The other was a tutorial on how to use Photoshop to achieve “miniature faking”, I remembered that was the term they used.

So using a photo of a football stadium taken from my study room window, I uploaded the photo to the website mentioned above and tweaked it. Then I applied Gaussian Blur filters using Photoshop, before finally cropping the photo.

You can check out the two photos below, the original and the “miniature-faked” photo (try focusing your eyes on the yellow vehicle and the stadium seats for maximum effect).

If you have been to Singapore, there is a good chance you would have come across “kaya toast” (wafer-thin toast with coconut jam) at local coffee shops, franchised F&B outlets or even Changi Airport. Making plain toast is easy, finding the right kaya to go with your toast is the hard part. It crossed my mind that if I had the right kaya, I could actually attempt at DIY kaya toast. So after a couple of trips to Garden City, and with the help of local friends, I managed to buy some great tasting kaya (see pix above). Which tastes better I leave that to you to decide, but bear in mind some kaya are made with no preservatives and have a short shelf-life. Now, where is that toaster… 

Gosh, 365 days has passed, and it’s Mid-Autumn again! Since Mid-Autumn fell on a Sunday, we have a day off today (Monday). Took a couple of pictures last night of local folks with their lanterns gathering at a nearby soccer stadium. This time, the moon was unfortunately behind where I was so I could not include it in the picture. One of the hottest Mid-Autumn in HK, a blazing 31 degrees Celsius, more like summer I would say! Hoped everyone out there enjoyed their mooncakes and pomelos, Happy Mid-Autumn.

It has been exactly 3 months to date since my last blog, I guessed that is the price one has to pay for working long hours. Anyway, I was glad I waited until almost 4am on the day after Mid-Autumn Festival to see the full moon, it was a public holiday in HK anyway so I could stay up late… hee! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone out there

“Tang Lung” above (played by Bruce Lee) in The Way of the Dragon.

Bruce Lee taking a breather on the film set of The Way of The Dragon… ;-p

On a rainy afternoon, there is no better way to relax in Singapore than sitting in an old coffee shop with a cup of hot coffee and savoury wafer-thin Kaya toast (Kaya is a local spread made from coconut, eggs, sugar and Pandan leaf). Picture taken during my  recent Easter getaway in Singapore.

There are altogether four flavours but these two caught my attention, maybe I was curious as to whether Malay Satay sauce would taste anywhere near the real thing (damn, I miss satay!). As for Singapore Honey Mustard, what’s the connection? Maybe some of you bloggers out there would care to shed light on this mystery.

Well, are these sauces any good? I guess when you have been dipping your nuggets into the usual barbeque and the sweet & sour sauce, any new flavours is a welcome change.

After seeing one too many BODs (blue screen of deaths) while using my old PC for the past 2 months, I have decided enough was enough! In order to try and re-use most of the existing bits and pieces, I changed only the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Now, where did I put that game I have always wanted to play…

Diet Coke failed to lived up to the expectations of many Coke lovers who wanted to indulge but watch their calories at the same time. But that may all change with the new Coke Zero! I heard it contains an improved artificial sweetener which leaves a much milder after taste but I can still taste it though - nothing beats the real thing I guess.

Would I drink it again? Well, yes because it has “zero” calories, and no because I am worried about taking in too much artificial sweeteners.