This morning, I started up my laptop as usual when I reached office. However, there seemed to be some problems as I was unable to boot into Windows and was even presented with a BSOD Unmountable_Boot_Volume error. No choice, had to call Helpdesk for help and the thing I feared most happened -- my hard disk had crashed. I was mainly worried about my email data as I didn't make a backup of the pst files at all.
Helpdesk said they had to rebuild my laptop so I spent almost 3/4 of the day waiting for programs to be re-installed to a new hard disk. Luckily, Helpdesk found an old backup copy of my hard disk and they would try to recover some of my emails tomorrow so at least I would not lose all my data.
Think it's at least fortunate that this happened today rather than during closing a few days later. Otherwise, I would be so distracted and won't be able to fully concentrate on the closing.
Update: I did a google search to find out why this would happen, when there doesn't seem to be anything wrong when I shut down my laptop on Friday. I found that this is actually rather common and it seems there could be a way to fix this. Maybe I'll check with Helpdesk tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to recover all my data *crosses fingers*
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Kite Festival
A few days ago, I saw an article in the newspaper about a Kite Festival that will be held at West Coast Park on 29 & 30 Aug. I asked 小花 if she would be interested in going and she was, so we decided to go on the 29th.
We met at Clementi MRT station and took the free shuttle bus to the event venue. There were already lots of people when we reached there at around 3.15pm. Many people had brought mats and seemed ready for a picnic. We made our way to the kite-flying area and started taking photos. I haven't flown a kite for a long time and so was rather happy to see so many kites of various shapes and sizes in the sky.
There was something for everyone at the event. Besides kite flying, there were stage performances from various groups, as well as booths that taught kite-making, balloon sculpturing and even juggling! Everyone seemed to have lots of fun. Free goodies bags were also given out, so 小花 and I went to join the queue, though we "accidentally" jumped queue when there was a break in between :P
The weather was sunny and windy, which was actually a very good day for flying kites. However, we were sweating profusely and ended up resting at a nearby shelter after being under the sun for almost one and a half hours. Later, we were joined by a couple with 2 dogs and was amused that one of the dogs kept panting very loudly (as if it was on a motor).
It was about 5.30pm when we went to queue for free kites. However, we did not fly the kites and left soon after. As it was very hot, we wanted to have dinner at an air-conditioned place. There was only 1 bus at the bus stop and it passes by West Mall, so we decided to eat at the McDonald's there before going home.
Overall, it was an enjoyable day. Hope we can have more of such photo trips in future :)
We met at Clementi MRT station and took the free shuttle bus to the event venue. There were already lots of people when we reached there at around 3.15pm. Many people had brought mats and seemed ready for a picnic. We made our way to the kite-flying area and started taking photos. I haven't flown a kite for a long time and so was rather happy to see so many kites of various shapes and sizes in the sky.
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There was something for everyone at the event. Besides kite flying, there were stage performances from various groups, as well as booths that taught kite-making, balloon sculpturing and even juggling! Everyone seemed to have lots of fun. Free goodies bags were also given out, so 小花 and I went to join the queue, though we "accidentally" jumped queue when there was a break in between :P
The weather was sunny and windy, which was actually a very good day for flying kites. However, we were sweating profusely and ended up resting at a nearby shelter after being under the sun for almost one and a half hours. Later, we were joined by a couple with 2 dogs and was amused that one of the dogs kept panting very loudly (as if it was on a motor).
It was about 5.30pm when we went to queue for free kites. However, we did not fly the kites and left soon after. As it was very hot, we wanted to have dinner at an air-conditioned place. There was only 1 bus at the bus stop and it passes by West Mall, so we decided to eat at the McDonald's there before going home.
Overall, it was an enjoyable day. Hope we can have more of such photo trips in future :)
Friday, August 28, 2009
Diary of a Sex Addict
Yay it's Friday again! We were thinking of a place to have dinner and decided to try Terra Cafe. Perhaps it's the location but we would tend to forget about the existence of this cafe until after we had our dinner. Moreover, whenever we walked past the cafe, not many people seemed to be dining there, which makes us a bit wary of the taste of the food. However, we decided to give it a chance and try it out ourselves.
Surprisingly, the place was full of people when we reached there. We even had to wait for a table, which made us wonder if it was just a coincidence that many people also decided to dine at Terra Cafe today. Anyway, their set menu, which came with a soup of the day, main dish and dessert, seemed reasonably-priced so we still decided to try it out. I ordered a Seafood Aglio Olio for the main dish. I can't remember the name of the dish that 小花 ordered but it was the same as mine except that hers was in tomato sauce while mine was in spicy olive oil. Overall, the food was not too bad and we each had a scoop of chocolate ice-cream for dessert.
After dinner, we went to watch the movie - Diary of a Sex Addict. I felt rather sympathetic towards the main character when she fell in love and thought that she could finally get over her sex addiction, but in the end the man almost cost her her life. It was also sad that she went into prostitution, only to find out that she had to do as told even if she was unwilling to, just because the customer had paid money. I'm not sure if the ending can be described as good, but at least the main character is happy and enjoying life to the fullest. As this movie is based on a true story, I hope that she will be able to find someone who truly loves her some day.
Surprisingly, the place was full of people when we reached there. We even had to wait for a table, which made us wonder if it was just a coincidence that many people also decided to dine at Terra Cafe today. Anyway, their set menu, which came with a soup of the day, main dish and dessert, seemed reasonably-priced so we still decided to try it out. I ordered a Seafood Aglio Olio for the main dish. I can't remember the name of the dish that 小花 ordered but it was the same as mine except that hers was in tomato sauce while mine was in spicy olive oil. Overall, the food was not too bad and we each had a scoop of chocolate ice-cream for dessert.
After dinner, we went to watch the movie - Diary of a Sex Addict. I felt rather sympathetic towards the main character when she fell in love and thought that she could finally get over her sex addiction, but in the end the man almost cost her her life. It was also sad that she went into prostitution, only to find out that she had to do as told even if she was unwilling to, just because the customer had paid money. I'm not sure if the ending can be described as good, but at least the main character is happy and enjoying life to the fullest. As this movie is based on a true story, I hope that she will be able to find someone who truly loves her some day.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
On leave
Today I took a day off to accompany my 大妹 as she had an appointment for a Lasik surgery. Had only planned to take half-day leave in the afternoon, but yesterday her appointment was changed to the morning as the doctor has an emergency surgery in the afternoon. Didn't feel like taking a half-day morning leave and going back to work after that, so ended up taking one day instead.
This morning I woke up even earlier than usual as the surgery was at 9am. I played my DS while waiting for my 大妹 and I almost fell asleep :P She came out at around 10am with 2 protective lenses for her eyes taped to her face. She said she looked like a housefly haha.
After going home, we had an early lunch at around 11.30am as my 大妹 said she was supposed to rest her eyes as much as possible. The doctor even gave her sleeping pills in case she couldn't sleep. I cleared some email and then decided to take a nap at around 2pm, since it was raining very heavily then and so was a nice weather for sleeping :) Had set the alarm clock for 4pm but in the end only woke up at almost 6pm :P Think I really needed this "nap" as I felt much more refreshed when I woke up.
After dinner I spent almost 3 hours re-writing my appraisal form. Had to add more stuff as my boss felt that too little was written. As usual, I can't really think of much stuff to update so wasted lots of time just thinking and thinking.
All in all, didn't accomplish much today but managed to get a good rest. It's on days like this when I wish that we can just work from home. It's such a good feeling to be able to multitask like watching TV programs or playing games while working. And if you feel tired, you can just take a nap ;) If only my wish will come true... hehe...
This morning I woke up even earlier than usual as the surgery was at 9am. I played my DS while waiting for my 大妹 and I almost fell asleep :P She came out at around 10am with 2 protective lenses for her eyes taped to her face. She said she looked like a housefly haha.
After going home, we had an early lunch at around 11.30am as my 大妹 said she was supposed to rest her eyes as much as possible. The doctor even gave her sleeping pills in case she couldn't sleep. I cleared some email and then decided to take a nap at around 2pm, since it was raining very heavily then and so was a nice weather for sleeping :) Had set the alarm clock for 4pm but in the end only woke up at almost 6pm :P Think I really needed this "nap" as I felt much more refreshed when I woke up.
After dinner I spent almost 3 hours re-writing my appraisal form. Had to add more stuff as my boss felt that too little was written. As usual, I can't really think of much stuff to update so wasted lots of time just thinking and thinking.
All in all, didn't accomplish much today but managed to get a good rest. It's on days like this when I wish that we can just work from home. It's such a good feeling to be able to multitask like watching TV programs or playing games while working. And if you feel tired, you can just take a nap ;) If only my wish will come true... hehe...
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Food for thought
Today I had a mid-year performance conversation with my boss. Sigh... think I'm really bad at answering questions that I had not thought about beforehand. My mind seem to go blank and no matter how hard I try, I just can't come up with a good answer right away. Wonder how some people can talk about almost anything so easily while I struggle just to say something.
Guess this is why I usually prefer to just listen to what people have to say. Or perhaps all this while I have just been taking the easy way out by opting not to speak. Stating my opinion more often could be a good practice for me since I would have to think about what to say... Hmm....
Guess this is why I usually prefer to just listen to what people have to say. Or perhaps all this while I have just been taking the easy way out by opting not to speak. Stating my opinion more often could be a good practice for me since I would have to think about what to say... Hmm....
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Proposal
Yesterday, 小花 and I were deciding on which movie to watch for today, and we finally settled on The Proposal after suggestions from a few of our colleagues who also planned to watch it.
I knew that this movie is a romantic comedy but didn't expect it to be so hilarious. A few of the scenes, like the one where Sandra Bullock tried to offer the dog to the eagle in exchange for her handphone, as well as the one where she danced with the granny in the forest, were so funny that I laughed till I was almost out of breath. I'm so tempted to get a copy of this movie so that I can watch it again if I ever feel stressed out or just need a good laugh haha :D
Official trailer:
I knew that this movie is a romantic comedy but didn't expect it to be so hilarious. A few of the scenes, like the one where Sandra Bullock tried to offer the dog to the eagle in exchange for her handphone, as well as the one where she danced with the granny in the forest, were so funny that I laughed till I was almost out of breath. I'm so tempted to get a copy of this movie so that I can watch it again if I ever feel stressed out or just need a good laugh haha :D
Official trailer:
Thursday, August 20, 2009
New Toy - Photoshop
After trying out the Lomo effect a few days ago, I decided to test it out on another photo again. This time I tried using various techniques from different tutorials and here's what I got.
Before:
After:
Hmm... the castle looks like a Harry Potter scene now haha :P
Was helping 小花 to search for a color balance tutorial that I found interesting but forgot to bookmark the link, when I saw another interesting tutorial about colour isolation. (I'm so easily distracted hehe...)
Before:
After:
I think it is pretty amazing how you can control which parts of the image you want coloured and which to be black and white :)
大変だ！！There are so many tutorials out there so I supposed I will be playing with Photoshop for a while more :P
Before:
After:
Hmm... the castle looks like a Harry Potter scene now haha :P
Was helping 小花 to search for a color balance tutorial that I found interesting but forgot to bookmark the link, when I saw another interesting tutorial about colour isolation. (I'm so easily distracted hehe...)
Before:
After:
I think it is pretty amazing how you can control which parts of the image you want coloured and which to be black and white :)
大変だ！！There are so many tutorials out there so I supposed I will be playing with Photoshop for a while more :P
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Magazines & Books from Japan
Even though our Japan trip was very short, I still managed to buy Shirota Yuu's second photobook as well as the various magazines with images of him :) Had only quickly flipped through the magazines in Japan, so will now find some time to slowly go through and admire the images.
Also bought 2 dictionaries on Japanese grammar, which were highly recommended when I was searching for reference books. Will try to read a few pages every day, hopefully will be able to improve my Japanese. 頑張ります！
On a sidenote, today my 小妹 also passed her driving test. おめでとうございます！！
城田優写真集 『素顔。』  | ザテレビジョンHOMME Vol.7  |
GOOD COME vol. 11  | KOIMEN 恋メン '09 SUMMER Vol.5  |
Also bought 2 dictionaries on Japanese grammar, which were highly recommended when I was searching for reference books. Will try to read a few pages every day, hopefully will be able to improve my Japanese. 頑張ります！
On a sidenote, today my 小妹 also passed her driving test. おめでとうございます！！
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Lomo Effect
Was at PageOne with 小花 on Friday just before our movie and we happened to see some photos taken by Lomography cameras. Some of the photos were fascinating and they aroused my interest. Out of curiosity, I checked the internet to find out more information about Lomography but stumbled upon tutorials that teach you how to reproduce a similar effect on digital images instead.
Of course I had to try it out to see the effect for myself and below are the results.
Before:
After:
I'm rather pleased with the effect as the colours seem much more vibrant and it makes an ordinary photo stand out more. Which do you prefer? ;)
Of course I had to try it out to see the effect for myself and below are the results.
Before:
After:
I'm rather pleased with the effect as the colours seem much more vibrant and it makes an ordinary photo stand out more. Which do you prefer? ;)
Friday, August 14, 2009
TGIF
Oh yeah! It's finally Friday! Have been feeling very tired especially after the Japan trip, so can't wait for the weekend to arrive to have a good rest.
小花 and I had already bought tickets for the movie "UP" showing at 9.30pm. Wasn't very busy at work today so we managed to leave the office at around 7.30pm and went for dinner first. As we have eaten Carl's Junior for lunch yesterday, we decided not to eat fast food but have 魚片米粉 at Banquet instead. It was still tasty as usual :)
After dinner, we still had some time so we just walked around the shops. Although we work near VivoCity and almost go there for lunch everyday, we hardly shop around at all. So it was rather fun to just go into the shops (Action City & Mini Toons) to have a look at the various knick-knacks that they are selling.
This movie is in 3D so we collected the 3D glasses before going into the theatre. The glasses are a bit different from what we were given when we watched 3D movies previously. They seem rather bulky and don't really fit well... I still prefer the previous one.
Though the glasses were not very comfortable, I still enjoyed the movie. It has a really nice story line, even if it is more of a fantasy story. (Imagine your house flying away on balloons!) I really like the character Carl Fredricksen. He may seem like a grumpy old man but is actually very sentimental. He's so sweet to his wife *heart*
Of course the other main character Russell is adorable as well... 可愛い！！ Just look at his chubby face... Don't you feel like pinching it? Haha :P
この映画は面白いので、好きです！
小花 and I had already bought tickets for the movie "UP" showing at 9.30pm. Wasn't very busy at work today so we managed to leave the office at around 7.30pm and went for dinner first. As we have eaten Carl's Junior for lunch yesterday, we decided not to eat fast food but have 魚片米粉 at Banquet instead. It was still tasty as usual :)
After dinner, we still had some time so we just walked around the shops. Although we work near VivoCity and almost go there for lunch everyday, we hardly shop around at all. So it was rather fun to just go into the shops (Action City & Mini Toons) to have a look at the various knick-knacks that they are selling.
This movie is in 3D so we collected the 3D glasses before going into the theatre. The glasses are a bit different from what we were given when we watched 3D movies previously. They seem rather bulky and don't really fit well... I still prefer the previous one.
Though the glasses were not very comfortable, I still enjoyed the movie. It has a really nice story line, even if it is more of a fantasy story. (Imagine your house flying away on balloons!) I really like the character Carl Fredricksen. He may seem like a grumpy old man but is actually very sentimental. He's so sweet to his wife *heart*
Of course the other main character Russell is adorable as well... 可愛い！！ Just look at his chubby face... Don't you feel like pinching it? Haha :P
この映画は面白いので、好きです！
Friday, August 7, 2009
Japan... Here I Come!!!!
Now at Changi Aiport... almost time to board the plane for Narita Airport :)
Japan... Here I come!!!!
Japan... Here I come!!!!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Oh! My Girl!
Just finished watching the drama "Oh! My Girl!" :) Previously mentioned that I didn't have the urge to keep on watching it, but that changed after watching the 6th episode last night. Somehow the plot became more dramatic, which led me to wanting to know the ending. Can say that I'm rather satisfied with the ending as well as the whole drama overall. 
In the last few episodes, I kept on hearing the phrase "kawaisou". I immediately thought of "可愛いそう" which means "seems cute", but it didn't match the scene. So I went to check if there is another phrase and found that it should be "可哀相" which means pitiful. Not bad uh... can learn something new while watching the drama hehe.
In the last few episodes, I kept on hearing the phrase "kawaisou". I immediately thought of "可愛いそう" which means "seems cute", but it didn't match the scene. So I went to check if there is another phrase and found that it should be "可哀相" which means pitiful. Not bad uh... can learn something new while watching the drama hehe.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Weekend almost over....
After watching the new episodes of Naruto and Bleach, I decided to look for a new Japanese drama to watch. I was just randomly looking through the list of titles in PPS, then thought of trying to search by a particular actor's name. I remembered Tulip mentioned that she liked the actor 速水直道 (Hayami Mokomichi) in the drama 绝对男友 (Zettai Kareshi) so thought I would see what other dramas he was in. And so I ended up with "Oh! My Girl!" XD
I've finished 5 out of 9 episodes so far and felt that although this story is somewhat interesting, I do not have that urge to want to keep on watching till the last episode . Maybe it's because it's not like those detective and thief stories, where there is a lot of action and suspense, but more of a family-type story. It has a mixture of heartwarming and funny scenes though and I do like that dog.... it looks so cuddly :)
Was supposed to do some packing today for the Japan trip next Friday but kept on procrastinating. Probably it's because this trip will only be 4 days so I'm not too anxious. Think I will just pack some clothes into the luggage bag tomorrow instead :P
I've finished 5 out of 9 episodes so far and felt that although this story is somewhat interesting, I do not have that urge to want to keep on watching till the last episode . Maybe it's because it's not like those detective and thief stories, where there is a lot of action and suspense, but more of a family-type story. It has a mixture of heartwarming and funny scenes though and I do like that dog.... it looks so cuddly :)
Was supposed to do some packing today for the Japan trip next Friday but kept on procrastinating. Probably it's because this trip will only be 4 days so I'm not too anxious. Think I will just pack some clothes into the luggage bag tomorrow instead :P
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