My "Favourited" Shot ..

Interestingly, I just noted that one of my shots (uploaded last year in Flickr) was added as someone’s favourite (in Flickr too). It was added as Almost Normal's favourite in December, last year.

That photo is..

(This picture was taken in December 2004 @ Changi Airport Cactus Garden)

I am merrily shocked to learn that it is found in Almost Normal’s link : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessekatianda/favorites/page3/

Hehee.. I shall take that as a compliment. =)
Mm… but still a long way to go... must continue to improve… !! :)
(I don't even know who Almost Normal is.)

A Day @ Raffles Marina..

Raffles Marina (RM) is not equals to Raffles Country Club (RCC). They are both pretty near to each other and there are people headed towards RCC, with RM in mind. Sotong right?! Anyway, both were just beside our Tuas Checkpoint.
RM is a resort. It's not bad, but we wouldn't want to call it a Country Club. (Simply not the same league lah) Perhaps, it is just not so appealing to me.

Today, I went there anyway, just because many of my *little pals were there. I was glad to see them. I greeted them with just a smile and waving of hand. I think they were glad to see me too. Heehee.. I was greeted more 'audibly'. I will remember their surprised look and even more surprised look when they learnt that I was joining in their activities. Ha.. I'm sure not that kind of by-stander, am I? :P
Nevertheless, they looked drained out of energy (although they still do seemed to enjoy the more physical activities). Hey, it's only their 3rd day and there are still two more days to go.

I also learnt that..
(1) They were made to sleep in tents (built on roof-top tennis courts), while the *bigger colleagues were provided with hotel-styled guest rooms. Mm.. I wonder if the *little pals know about the marked difference.
(2) Monday night, they were 'attacked' with storms in the night and their tents (together with some of their belongings) were soaked and flooded. Mm.. I wonder where the *bigger colleagues were.
(3) Late night for Tuesday as well. Mm.. well, ok if necessary and erm.. meaningful.

I left pretty early (at around 5pm). It was too early by *little pals' standard. They were (asking if / hoping that) I will stay. Ha.. but I'm expected to leave as the *bigger colleagues were getting the form ready for me to sign-out when I approached them. True, I opted out the stay-in option during the planning stage and there may not be enough guest rooms booked. Haha.. Frankly, I don't quite like the idea that the *little pals are sleeping in tents and the *bigger colleagues are sleeping in guest rooms.

Mm.. The brief moment at RM was still memorable (not because it's RM, but more because of the people).
In more explicit terms, it was memorable simply because...
-- tried kayaking ; (like the sea, but not the mud at the muddy beach..)
-- witnessed their outdoor cooking ; (politely declined to try their food, when offered..)
-- skin got tonned ; (dreaming that the darker shade could last..)
-- taken some interesting pictures ; (awaiting post-processing.. )
-- nice get-together and chatting with many *little pals. (communication is always better at such relaxing environment..)

The daylight part of the day brought to a neat and pleasant closure by meeting up with a pal for a simple dinner.

The events of the day don't seem 'explosive' by any measures. They appeared to be plain and simple.
Maybe because I'm just a very simple person that enjoys simplicity with a human touch. :)

Uploading Pictures in Blogger..

I have no idea how it was done in the past.
I've just realised, uploading a picture now is simple. There's actually an iconic button to press at the menu bar to "Add Image". I don't even need to rely on a picture host for this purpose. Cool!
Erm.. maybe there are constraints I have yet to understand.
Anyway, with the assistance of a clever pal, I am able to get rid of the mouse-over-click-and-link-to-somewhere feature in any uploaded pictures, be it by blogger itself or through flickr. I just need to remember to remove something like "ahref... blah blah blah"
Haha..
The learning journey can be rather interesting.
Okay.. let me demonstrate.
Ladies and gentlemen, sharing with you another picture I quite like :

(This picture was taken during a trekking in June 2005 @ Seletar Forest)

Feedback Getting Published..

Last Wednesday, I wrote to the ST Forum (which I think will not be published), Today Voices (slightly more likely to be published) and HDB feedback channel (the source which I expected to get a simple reply) , the following materials :

On 20/07/2005 (Wednesday), I was only thinking of driving to a nearby hawker centre for a proper breakfast before work. The hawker centre I had in mind was in the heart of a HDB housing estate (Blk 105 of Yishun to be exact).
I entered the carpark at around 6:55am and left at 7:25am. I was mercilessly charged $2.42 for the parking by the electronic car parking system. $2 was meant for parking from 6:55am to 7:00am and $0.42 for parking from 7:00am to 7:25am. This charging is correct based on the prevailing car parking rates set by HDB.
By and large, I do see the advantages of utilizing technology in car parking. Besides, the per minute charging used by the management is also viewed to be rather fair. I also believe such system will be deployed in many more HDB car parks in months or years to come.
I am just feeling a little uneasy for the $2 night parking charge I have to pay, for entering the carpark 5 min too early.
The car park mentioned leads to a popular hawker centre patronises by many in the morning, as the hawker centre is already buzzling with life from 6:00am onwards, everyday.
A simple breakfast by some drivers is no longer that affordable.
I sincerely hope HDB can look into the matter. Thank you.
- - - -

The article was published on 25 July 2005, in Today Voices (with minimal editing). Wow..
I felt rather good in a way, but not along the line that my work is published and will get known or famous kind of thing. In fact, I tried to be truthful but used my other official name so that I could not be 'discovered' easily, instead. haha..
I felt good simply because, I always have this idea that my English is atrocious and people would have trouble understanding whatever that I have written. That idea was ascertained by my many past poor English results.
Ha.. so the simple publication (albeit through a small national paper) just affirms that people can understand quite clearly what I have written. :P
I should be looking forward to a possible reply from HDB.
Thanks J, for encouraging me to write (to Voices). Haha..

Staying Anonymous Or To Share

This is my first attempt to start a blog.
A little excited, certainly I am.
My first thought is to share it with my friends, in articularly, the one that introduced me to this idea of blogging and had shared with me plenty of interesting sites. Nothing along the line of 'showing-off', but rather to express the contentment I feel that I have learnt something new.
However, to a certain extent, I find that it may be slightly more interesting to remain nameless, faceless and anonymous.
Maybe.. maybe.. haha..
The thought of wondering who will be the first one to locate this site and identify me is kind of fun.