picmonkey photo editor - it's in english!

a few days ago, i wrote about meitu xiu xiu photo editor, a chinese based photo editing tool for our photo beautification needs. it's a good app but for the chinese language-challenged lot, it does pose a bit of a... well, challenge.


so just imagine my delight when i came across a post by howaboutorange talking about picmonkey, an online photo editing website. if you're a picasaweb user, you'll know about picnik, and also the fact that they're no longer available to people without a google+ account. that's not really a problem with me as i have an account, but i decided to check picmonkey out anyway, just for the heck of it (and also coz i'm attracted to its quirky name).


anyway, the team behind picmonkey is the former engineers of picnik (which maybe explains the "pic" in the names), and they've decided to come up with this new website after picnik was bought over by google. like meitu xiu xiu, it's free without a need for registration, meaning anyone can just pop in there and start editing their photos without having to have everything connected to each other (email connected to your facebook, which is connected to your twitter, which in turn is connected to your picasaweb account and your flickr and god knows what else...).


for those who've used picnik before, you'd notice that while picnik's interface is more on cute butterflies-ladybugs-picnic-basket-ish look and feel, picmonkey's is more cool-summer-laid-back-yesteryears-ish feel. and it offers much more cooler photo effects than picnik! for now, all the cool effects are free, but i suspect they're gonna start charging for those tagged with the "monkey king" head soon, something like added features or extra special effects or whatever.


one thing that i noticed lacking in picmonkey that meitu xiu xiu has is the background feature, that i specifically wrote about previously. but they do have some cool frames and other features that we can play around with. here's a sample:

this is a sample photo that's provided by picmonkey for us to edit and play around...

here's another sample photo by picmonkey. to get this effect, i chose the frame feature, daguerreotype effect #2 and the film effect of "brady" (all circled in red), and a fade of 0%... the top photo is the same, only with the fade of 25%. so cool, right? oh, see that crown thing i circled in blue? that's an indication that this is a "monkey king" feature, so it MAY mean that it won't be free anymore next time!

meitu xiuxiu photo editor

updated (19 apr 2012): if you're looking for an english based photo editor, read this!


sweet sheila introduced me to this super easy to use photo editor, meitu xiu xiu (美图秀秀). unfortunately, it's all in chinese (for now. let's all cross our fingers and hope they come up with an english version very soon!) anyway, it's still a good photo editor app and if u're not doing any serious designing or photo editing work, i feel this is good enough for us. and really, it's quite straightforward and easy to understand, even for a banana like me!


still, if u're really clueless about which button to click on, you can refer to this blog which i came across for a quick basic tutorial in english.


they have a web version, so you can choose to either download it or work with the web version. you can either click on the link or from the main xiuxiu.meitu.com page, choose the web version as circled in the pic below. my chrome browser automatically translates everything into english (except those embedded text lah), so your browser might not show the same english words as below.

as you can see, they even have versions for iphone, android and ipad!

for those of you bananas who can understand spoken chinese, you can also go through the video tutorials by clicking the button as circled in the pic below.

so many types of tutorial to suit your needs...

anyway, biow was asking me about the background that i used for my globetrotter amineko in my craft blog. so here's where you click to add the background, as circled and numbered below.

there are lots of background to choose from!

other than these features, there are many more other features to play around with, such as lomo, vignetted,  cosmetics, adding in icons, texts, etc etc. so just take your time to explore, click all the buttons and see what they do! it's kinda fun! :)

addicted to prezi!

i came to know about prezi last week, when my gen-y gm (or so he claims!) requested us to do up a presentation using it. it's such a cool app!


so i've made up another presentation for my department's christmas party, and everyone loved it! hehehe... just wanna share it with everyone here (tho' u're NOT invited to the party! :P)


wait for it to load fully, hover your mouse over the word "more" to view it in full screen, and keep clicking > to advance to the next slide.

sales & marketing xmas gathering on Prezi

here's another cool presentation, by the prezi team themselves. but this required a higher level of skills, involving flash and photoshop etc...

round and round we go… not very merry, tho’

i finally applied for an internet connection in my apartment, but went through a whole merry-go-round process that was totally unnecessary! not to mention the amount of money wasted!

ok, here’s the (loooong) story. everyone i talked to (and even in their website), i was told that i’d have to go to the etisalat office to apply for an internet connection. and two of my colleagues even pointed me to the government building near to our apartment, where there’s an etisalat office there.

i was also told that i’d need to have my residency visa first before i can apply. so right after i’ve gotten my residency visa, i made plans to go submit my application. and it being a government building (and etisalat being government-run), i was of the opinion that they follow the normal government office hours. so i waited for my next executive duty* day to go submit my application.

*executive duty is when a manager/director/gm walks about the building after office hours to check on everything and then submit a report on his/her findings the next day. of course, there are other roles and functions, but i don’t wanna bore you with all those stuff. anyway, all managers/directors/gm will go on duty in turns, and on average, each will have 2 days of duty per month. duty starts from 6-11pm, and we’re allowed to come to the office at 12pm the next day.

so the next morning after my duty, with a copy of my visa and passport in hand, i got on a taxi and told the driver, “government building”. he just nodded and started driving. after a while, i asked him if he know where is it. he said, yes. to make sure he really knows it, i even told him that i wanna go to the etisalat office at the government building. he just nodded and said, “ya, ya”.

but then he made a wrong turning at a junction. i immediately told him that the building is in the opposite direction. he insisted that it’s the correct way. i argued that it’s not correct! apparently there are a lot of “government buildings” in dubai, all with etisalat offices, and the driver was bringing me to a further one! long story short, he had to make a few u-turns (coz that’s how the roads are in dubai, don’t ask me why!) and in the end, DID NOT even bring me to the government building that i wanted to go!

instead, he brought me to an etisalat outlet, along the very same main road and only a few blocks away from my apartment! and the fee came up to 40 dirham! i was so mad!! but i didn’t wanna argue with him coz we’ve wasted precious time driving around in circles and i still need to catch the 11am staff bus to the office!

so i paid up the blardy driver and went into the shop. but then the lady at the desk said i’d need a consent letter from my company, coz i’m staying at the staff accommodation. what the…??? the website didn’t mention anything about such letter. and my colleague in hr made a call to the etisalat office a few weeks back, and wasn’t told of such letter!

so i can’t apply without the letter. but i found out that the outlet closes at 9.30pm. ok, so i’ll just go to the office and get the letter from hr, then come again after work to submit my application. i hopped onto a taxi again to go back to my accommodation and the fee was just 7.50 dirhams! but i have to pay 10 dirhams as the standard minimum charge for taxis. 50 dirhams for NOTHING!

then that night, with the company letter in hand, i decided to WALK to the outlet, coz i reckoned it’s quite near. but i underestimated the distance, and ended up walking for like 30 min! so going home, i hopped on a bus instead. coz i already know where i am and where i’m going, and it’s much cheaper! anyway, upon reaching the outlet, i was told that for my building, i can only apply for the eLife package, due to some fibre optic thingy . eLife is basically a package with a higher connection speed, where they also throw in a lot of other useless “perks” like free 20 min international calls, 8hrs of free wi-fi at hot-spots, caller phone id, bla bla bla… things that i don’t really need. when i argued that my colleagues who stay in the same building are under the more basic al shamil package, the sales person said, “no, that’s from last time. now your building can only take eLife.” blardy hell, the cheapest eLife package is double that of al shamil!

but no choice lor. also have to pay for it if i want an internet connection. but guess what? the next day in the office, when i told my colleague about it, she said that was exactly what happened to her previously! but she was put off by the price and didn’t apply. then later she went straight to the etisalat office in the government building, and was able to apply for the al shamil package. she’s guessing that these outlets earn a commission from etisalat for every eLife package sold, so they tell people that their buildings/area can only go for eLife. argh!!! i’ve been conned!

so that night, i made the trip to the outlet for the 3rd time, on a bus. i told them that i’d called up the etisalat office and was told that the al shamil package is perfectly fine for my building (it’s true, i did make that call), and also, my neighbour had her al shamil installed just last week (not really true). so i want them to change my application to al shamil as well. the guy at the desk (the same one who did my application the night before) said he’s already processed my application and i can’t do any changes now. so i told him if it can’t be switched, i’d like to cancel it. he spoke to his colleague in tagalog for a while, clicked on his computer a few times, then said they’re not able to switch the package coz they only sell eLive at the outlet. what the hell??? instead of telling me that they don’t have the al shamil package right from the beginning, and that i’d need to go to the etisalat office to apply for it, they tell all these bullshit stories about fibre optic crap and that the cheaper packages can’t be installed in my building! if this is not a con job, i don’t know what is… and i nearly got conned too!

anyway, i canceled my eLife package and hopped on the bus to go home again… and you know what? as it turned out, all these merry-go-round was totally unnecessary. because when i called the etisalat office earlier that day, i found out that i can actually apply for an internet connection with just a phone call to them from my etisalat mobile number (with no charge some more!), coz they already have my visa and passport info!

so means i needn’t wake up earlier on the day after my night duty, take that super expensive taxi ride, make 3 to and fro trips to that outlet, walk my legs off for one of those trips, or get a consent letter from my company. heck, i didn’t even have to wait for my residency visa! i could’ve applied for it the very same day i moved into my apartment!

a total waste of time and money and energy! apply for internet also have to be so drama! haiz…

p/s: internet connection will take a maximum of 2 weeks to get installed. so yeah, no connection yet!

could be dead, for all i know!

my phone's been so underutilised that if it weren't for the breather light, i'd really think that it died on me! gone are the days when i get unlimited data usage, where i receive my e-mails when i'm not sitting in front of a computer, log on to facebook when i'm bored, upload photos taken with my phone to facebook in real time, chat on msn, yahoo and gtalk on fring mobile and use the gps when i'm lost! now my phone is only used for making calls, receiving calls and texting. and that also don't happen very often nowadays... i can go for one whole week without charging my phone, whereas previously, i'd need to recharge my phone nearly everyday! seriously, after 7 freaking days, i still have about 1/4 power left! now only i know that my nokia battery can last THAT long...

mirror blog...

i'm just created a mirror blog, for the benefit of my parents and all my "fans" back home... hehe... i'm reluctant to share this blog, coz this is too personal for public viewing, but at the same time, i wish to write more about my life here for those back home... hence the mirror site.


for those who are already here, don't bother checking the other site, as it'll just be a copy and paste of some of the posts from here. so consider yourselves privileged! :D


ok, if your really must know, the mirror site is here.

1st roll of film in lomo: failed!

so sad... of the 36 exposures from my first roll of film, i only managed to get 2 photos! the rest of the film turned out blank... not black, not blurred... just BLANK and TRANSPARENT! means they're not even exposed! haiz...

taken facing the bright morning sun...

i took 2 of the same shots, a habit with most digital cam users, i'm sure!

this first roll is from my uws cam, without any additional lenses. and these 2 pics were the only ones i took under bright sunlight. i remembered i took a few under fluorescent lighting, which i thought was bright enough... but apparently not! so lesson learnt from this is, uws can only be used in the outdoors under bright sunlight for the films to be exposed properly... hopefully the results from my tlr and my 2nd roll of film from my uws will be better!

read also:
1. 2nd toy: gakkenflex tlr
2. new toy!

2nd toy: gakkenflex tlr

as mentioned in my previous post, i went to collect my gakkenflex tlr from kino after work that day. so excited...

and so the assembly process begins. 

these are the camera parts that came out from the box... a bit daunting, looking at all these...

even more daunting is, the instructions are in japanese!

but i found a trick to recognizing all the parts. firstly, don't take out all the parts from their compartments! when you need a part, match the japanese writing for that part to its picture on the front page (showing where everything is) and locate the compartment they're in. there are a few near-similar parts in there, so you have to make sure you're using the correct one. there are a few parts in small plastic bags, so after taking out one part, be sure to put the plastic bag with the other parts still in them back to their original compartment.

ta-da! took me over an hour to put it all together... i got stuck at one or two places, but i guess crocheting with japanese patterns helped me heaps in figuring how japanese instructions work! :)

with the viewfinder flap opened up...

they even provided 2 types of stickers for us to customize our tlr... i chose this brown one to give my tlr a more classic look, instead of the colour triangle ones, which is more retro. and then i found this cover template, where you can print just about any pattern onto them on a sticker paper, cut them out and stick them on to personalize your tlr!

i've tested it out a bit during the weekend and all i can say that it takes a bit of getting used to. first of all, like i mentioned before, we hold it at our waist, look down into the viewfinder and turn the lens to focus, instead of bringing the camera up to our face and sticking the viewfinder to our eyes.

secondly, the viewfinder will flip all the images! for example, if your books are on the right side of cabinet, you'll see it on the left side in the viewfinder... so it's really hard to get the right focus, especially if you're moving left and right to try to put the object in the centre of the frame.

also, it doesn't have a double exposure interlock, which means if you forgot to wind up the film after taking a shot and continue to take a second shot, you'll double expose your film. i think i did that a few times... we'll see what comes out when i get the film developed!

but other than that, it's really an awesome thing to play with! very fun to explore... and can't wait to see the results!

read also:
1. new toy!

wide angle/fisheye lens test-out...

yay! received my jelly lens set in the mail today! *happy*

i couldn't wait till i get home, so i decided to test out one of the lenses, the wide angle/fisheye lens with my phone's camera... and here's the result (pls excuse the mess at the back there!).

regular photo without the add-on lens...

with wide angle/fisheye lens. this lens has dual functions... it gives wide angle effects when taking landscape or scenery, and fisheye effect when taking objects close-up. pretty cool, eh? :)

oh, oh! and i just received an e-mail from kinokuniya that the magazine with the gakkenflex tlr is here! gonna go collect it later... so excited! :D

new toy!

it was quite a slow day in the office yesterday, so i was reading up on lomography online... and the more i read, the more obsess i got with it! i feel the lomo effects are really cool, and i just had to have it! and chatting to biow about it only made my obsession worse, coz she's also as crazy as i am over it. she kept asking me to buy it first, do a review about it and then she'll decide if she wanna get it herself... so good friend hor? :P

anyway, i know there are actually some photo software that allows us to apply lomo effects onto our photos, and some compact digital cams have the lomo functions build onto them, but i find the effects not there yet. not so "lomo", if you get what i mean! :D

ok, for those who don't know what lomography is, here're a few definitions:

lomography according to wikipedia

lo-fi (lo-fidelity) photography according to wikipedia

lomo according to the click shop

so anyway, i had my eye on this ultra wide & slim sakurasan (limited edition). so cute right??? but currently the online shop is out of stock, and it'll take them about 3 weeks to restock. but with my kind of obsession, you think i can wait for 3 freaking weeks??? so i went over to klcc after work yesterday, coz i heard kinokuniya carries some brands of lomo cameras. first, i went up to the arts section on the upper floor of kino. yeah, they had a whole display cabinet of lomo cams, but all are high-end models for more serious lomo users. i didn't really check the price there (shy lar, wanna ask the sales ppl to open up the cabinet when i've no intention to buy), but from my brief research in the internet, those models are in the price range of RM400-500 or more. i may be obsessed, but i sure ain't gonna spend that kinda money on this "toy"!

then i traipsed downstairs to the japanese section, coz another friend mentioned that sometimes there are some japanese magazines that have cheap lomo cams attached to them. and ta-da! see what i found!

ultra wide & slim (uws for short) clover san! i think this is the latest in the uws series (see the whole series here), coz even the online shop don't have it yet... so even tho' i'd love to have a pink toy cam (the sakurasan), clovers are also one of my fav plants. and i get to lay my hands on it like NOW! :D

it's sold as a magazine in the japanese section, coz basically, it IS a magazine, with a box attached to it at the back which contains a "free gift" (the toy lomo cam!)

a close-up of my clover san... and it's cheaper in kino too! in the website, they're selling for RM110 including free delivery by poslaju within malaysia. i bought this for RM118.30, but there's a discount sticker on it. meaning if we buy another item of any amount, we can get a 20% off this item... so i just grabbed a book from the "train the dragon" series (that i'm collecting anyway), and i just need to pay RM94.64 for the cam. erm, for the magazine, i mean! :P

it's a toy camera, really. very basic... don't even require batteries! just load in the film and snap. but no batteries mean no flash, so i guess no nighttime photography. but the cute thing is, after snapping one shot, u'll need to wind the film forward for your next shot... just like an antique cam! only thing is, i feel the strap should be of a cuter colour, instead of boring black, don'cha think?

the magazine that talks about lomography using this uws, but too bad it's all in japanese!

so far, i've only taken a few shots to test it out... but as it's using film, we can only tell the results after i've finished the 36 exposures and sent it to the shop to be developed. biow told me to get 24 or 12 exp film, so that they'll finish up faster and we can see the results earlier, but i forgot... hehe...

as for the feel of it... well, it's a toy. so it's very light, with a very plastic feel to it. that means we'll need to have extra steady hands when snapping... but then again, isn't blurry photos part of the effects of lomography? :D oh yeah, i've placed an order for additional lenses! these jelly lenses come in a set of 4, each giving different effect to the photos... looking forward to experimenting with them! ;)

anyway, there are actually digital lomo cams... but it doesn't allow users to preview their shots in the cam, because they don't have lcd screens on them. they only allow users to load their photos straight onto the pc, without the hassle of having to develop the films. but digital lomo cams are much more expensive, and i feel the effects are not as nice as film ones. so i guess there are pros and cons to the two, depending on individual's preferences.

i think a lot of serious photographers will scorn at lomography, coz maybe it's not even real photography? it's just pointing and snapping with a toy camera! but i love the effects... i find them ultra cool! and i feel even though these are toy cameras, to get all those effects require some sort of skills too.

and even though many people speculated that this is just a phase, which will die out eventually, i still found the effects very cool cool cool! i know, i've said that many times already, but it's still oh-so-cool! hehehe...

also, i discovered that there are hundreds of different kinds of lomo cams out there. a friend on fb told me that he has a friend who is totally into lomo photography, and she has about 6-8 different lomo cams! that is really a lomo addict! i guess it's a good thing that they're so cheap, so more people are able to explore this strand of photography... and i actually don't blame them for having so many lomo cams. cuteness factor aside (tho' it IS quite a major factor in our decision making - for me at least!), each camera has their own different features and functions. in fact, i myself am thinking of getting another one! hehehe...

photo copied from the *click* shop

this is the gakkenflex tlr (tlr = twin lens reflex), made of plastic (also considered a "toy") and it's totally different from our conventional camera. to snap a photo with this, we hold it at our waist and look down into the viewfinder, instead of bringing the camera up to our face and sticking the viewfinder to our eyes. i find this camera totally awesome! it's also a "free gift" that comes with a magazine, but this one requires us to assemble the camera ourselves... how awesome is that?! we'll be able to learn about the inner mechanics of a camera and how it works... however, tho' i pride myself in my diy skills, i'm just a tad worried that it's beyond me...

the parts will come in a box like this...

with instructions in japanese! *gulp*

but anyway, when i enquired about this in kino yesterday (to compare it with the clover san), the info counter people said it's sold out but if i want it, they can reorder for me. i think the price is around RM120. not very expensive also... hmm... should i? :P

teaching an old dog new tricks?

a few weeks back, i'm suddenly being bombarded with lots of phone calls from my bro, asking me questions about the old pc that i "dump" back home when i got my laptop. what's the ram? why is it so slow? do you still have the manual? can i delete all your files? it got me curious, because every time i go home, the old pc was just sitting there on the study table in the spare room, untouched, like how i first left it 2 years back. and brother has a pc and laptop of his own, surely he can't be interested in that old junk... so why the sudden interest in my pc?

i found out the answer when i made my monthly trip home to bear hill last weekend. apparently, my mom has started learning to use the computer, and is even taking classes in ms applications! wow... impressive. so bro has been summoned to set up my old pc at home for mom to "practice"...

anyway, during a particularly dull (and humid!) moment yesterday, where normally my parents would be taking their sunday nap in the 2nd hall, i discovered the rattan reclining chair to be empty! hmm... a short search brought me to the downstairs spare room, and that's where i saw mom, hard at work clicking away at the computer! so i walked in and asked what's she doing. "just revising", she said.

so i sorta just hung around, curious. after a while, she asked, "how to...". i knew this was coming! it seems that her class was learning how to create tables and columns and rows on ms word, so mom was just going thru the lessons... but she found that the table she's created doesn't have enough columns, and she's forgotten how to create more columns.

so i taught her the more "advanced" method of highlighting the columns and using right-click to add. but apparently, this is too advanced for her! "but teacher never teach us right-click!" whoops... and she seems to have some trouble controlling the mouse. in dad's word, "she doesn't know how to catch the lao-shu (mandarin for mouse)". hehe...

which got me thinking... can old dogs really learn new tricks? i mean, save for a few who's really tech savvy, the older generation are sorta wired differently. we can teach a 5 year old kid (or even younger!) to use the computer and they can pick it up so fast, but try teaching a 60+ year old senior citizen who erstwhile had not had any experience with the computer... i was doing all i can from getting all frustrated and raising my voice, and trying to be REALLY patient in repeating the process step-by-step for the umpteenth time. at least mom's trying to advance and better herself, right? but i can only say one thing: i really salute the computer teacher who took on this task!

on a food hunt!

one fine day after work, i was just thinking about what to do about dinner and feeling so sick with all my regular food hunts... when suddenly i remembered x telling me that my phone's navigator has a list of places to go that were recommendations by users themselves. so feeling a tad adventurous, i whipped out my phone, switched on garmin...

asked the phone where should i go...

asked what were my options...

told it that i'm hungry...

it asked me what kinda food i have in my mind...

after browsing thru the choices it offered me, i came to
the first korean restaurant in the list (out of only 2!)

ok, let's go and see how good is the recommendation!

seoul korea restaurant is in tmn desa... with some help from the disembodied lady voice from my phone, i found the place easy enough, tho' looking for a parking lot is really a bitch! but in the end, i managed to squeeze into a spot so tight that if i were to be driving a new car, i wouldn't even think to attempt it.

anyway, remember i used to be so obsess with bibeembab? well, i'm so over that... now, kimchi jigeh rocks big time man!! hehe... so after just a quick glance at the menu, that's what i ordered...

i can barely contain my delight when i was served 12 side dishes! yes, 12!!!
this is by far the restaurant that served the most side dishes that i've been to...

here are some of the side dishes that i'm tasting for the first time...

cucumbers fried in eggs... not a big fan of cucumbers, but i still tried it. it's ok lar...

beef! tasted like canned meat... only had one piece, coz i don't really eat beef...

some sort of meatball... beef again.
had to force myself to finish up the piece that i bit into

braised egg...

jellyfish cucumber salad... this is yummy!

the kimchi jigeh itself... well, i'm sorry to note that they served it with pork! argh!!! those 3 layered fat kinda pork some more! *screams and runs for cover* and the taste, other than the can't-be-ignored pork taste, it's kinda bland compared to the one served by the korean restaurant near my office that i always go for my korean lunch fix. ah well, we can't have everything, right?

these side dishes, i've tried before, but they were so delish that i just had to take a pic of it... i'm salivating now just looking at it! :P

fried anchovies in some kind of thick chilli sauce...

marinated oyster mushroom slices...

marinated seaweed...

well, even with the can't-be-ignored pork taste, i still enjoyed the meal imensely. i was so full in the end that i did not finish everything. what a shame to see all those good food go to waste! made a mental note to bring along someone to share next time... and not to order their full-of-pork kimchi jigeh!

after i've asked for the bill, not only did they serve me the usual
2 slices of watermellon, but also this ginger-barley and a korean mellon sweet!

and the bill? it's not expensive at all. only RM16.50 in total... cheap or wat? and imagine me paying RM28++ for the same thing (in a smaller pot and with only half the side dishes!) in klcc!

after dinner, i remembered there's a 100 yen shop in that area... so based on just my doggie sense of direction (no need navigation for this lar!) i traipse over and found the shop around the corner.

among the other stuff i bought, here's something i got for N.

with her recent interest in crochet, thought this will come in handy

read also:
1) korean cravings...

i heart my new toy!

a few weeks ago, my phone started acting up. no, it's not an excuse to change phone. that phase of me wanting to get the most updated phone is over. i just want a decent device to make calls, receive sms, check mails on the go and maybe play some music when i'm bored. if the camera quality is good, then it's a bonus, but not a must!

anyway, i noticed that my phone battery kept running out and can't last even one day... i'll need to charge it at least twice a day! at first i thought it's a battery problem, coz the device is nearly 2 years old. so i went to get myself a new battery (original one some more!).

while at the phone shop, the shop person was so impressed with the condition of my phone. he said it's still so new and was amazed with my ability to keep it so well-preserved. actually this is not the first time phone shop assistants (and humans in general!) have expressed their amazement at the condition of all my phones... hehee... i just take real good care of my phones! neeways, this phone shop assistant asked me to trade in my phone to get a new model, coz he really likes the my model. he made me an offer that is much higher than the market price for 2nd hand phones, but i declined coz dun wanna waste money to change phone when my phone is still in perfect working order (or so i thought lar). before i leave, he reminded me again that in the future if i wish to change phone, i should trade in my phone to him coz he'd still be interested.

however, my battery problem persisted. it's then that i realized that the phone has turned into a battery vampire! shucks... wasted my RM75 for the original battery!

thus begins my search for a new phone... i've been out of touch with the latest phone developments, so i was at a lost as to what model to get. i know i'll probably stick to nokia, unless there are other brands that are good enough (in every aspect, including the price!) to entice me. so i asked around... the boss suggested samsung omnia, but that was beyond my budget. then he suggested nokia n63, but i didn't like the qwerty keyboard thingy. then biow suggested iphone 3g, saying it's SO me... hehe... i know, i like iphone 3g too! it's like the epitome of total coolness! but again, it's not within my budget lar. gone are the days where i'll spend a bomb on phones, coz their value depreciates so fast! then the x suggested nokia 5800xm. hmm... it looks good, cool in fact. and its specs looks good too... after more research, this seems like THE ONE for me!




so last sunday, i traipse over to the phone shop again and got it. after trading in my nokia 6110 navigator, the final price is a steal!

today is my day 2 of using it, and i'm discovering it's various nuances bit by bit. being a nokia user, most of the functions are quite standard. we know where everything is and how most things work... but it didn't stop there.

i'll not bore everyone with the full features of this phone. if you wish to know more, go google for it lar. but i just love the touch screen and the auto rotate function. it's very responsive and user friendly. i also love it's blinking notification light. means if there's a miss call or sms, the notification light will go blink-blink... blink-blink... and then we'll know. we don't need to keep unlocking our phone to check. it's obvious the ppl at nokia are phone users.

well, if i have any grouse at all for this phone, it'll be the material it's made of. unlike my previous phone, which has some aluminium in the housing, this 5800xm is fully plastic. what more, it's the kind of plastic that gets oily easily, at the slightest touch! and i hate finger prints on my phones! other than that, i'd say it's by far the best nokia i've owned! *happy*

read also:
1) i finally got broadband!
2) earliest birthday present ever!

R. I. P.

my first ever compact digital camera finally met its demise after rendering its service faithfully for a total of 6 years.

FUJIFILM FinePix F410
20 May 2003 - 3 May 2009

its screen was considered one of the widest of its time...
tho' now a lot of newer models have surpassed it

at its final days, it still tried its best... but normal tasks that were a breeze previously have became a daily struggle. it was not able to perform as efficiently and effortlessly as before.

most of the outdoor shoots were overexposed

officially, this is the final shot taken by F410, on 27th Dec 2008

my dear F410,

thanks for sticking with me thru thick and think. i'll never forget the times we've had together, and the places we've seen and snapped. tho' many more cameras will come and go in my life, u'll always be my no. 1.

rest in peace, baby. you deserve it...

Singapore Flyer Official Opening Photography Contest

since we're talking abt photography (ok, only biow!), thot i'd share this with everyone...

Singapore Flyer Official Opening Photography Contest

scroll down to near the bottom, at the category 4, and u can see bro's name as the 3rd prize winner! how cool is that? :)

change of url...

need to change the url, coz the x knows the old one. that was why i passworded this blog previously.

i finally got broadband!

sick and tired of my dial-up connection, i finally went and got myself signed-up for the maxis broadband, with the usb modem... speed wise, so far so good! :)
now need to discipline myself to get work done instead of surfing whole day!

oh, and did i mention that i got a new phone? hehehe... nokia 6110 nav, another present from the bf. complete with gps navigation functions! *grin* (mine's black in colour)

another step up the IT world...

guess where m i now? hehehe...
starbucks! going wi-fi, with my brand new laptop! *grin*

just finish my bookcrossing meetup in bangsar shopping village and since gco practice is not until 8pm tonight, took the chance to pop into starbucks (oppostite bakerzin - the meetup venue this month) to take advantage of the fast connection to upload my cambodia pics... but dunno y, flickr is still quite slow. other site r dem fast, just flickr! only 100+ pics uploaded, 400+ more to go! *sigh*

but nvm lar. still heaps faster then my dial-up... so can't complain much...

will make it a short one this time round...

earliest birthday present ever!

first birthday present for this year... and the birthday is more than 2 months away! *grin*

dun u think the red one is super cool? i lurv it!

he is so SO so spoiling me! *grin*

messy...

been preparing my blog for a more 'public-friendly' facade... password-protecting some sensitive posts and removing some all together. and not being really savvy in these computer n internet stuff, i'm making a big mess with 'scrypting' (is there such a word? aiya, dun care lar), with paragraphs running all over the place. but it's the best i can do for now until i find a better solution...