Just like riding a bike… eeerrrrmmm

Actually it is literally just like riding a bike :) Once moved, I have decided to get a bike, and now the question is what bike? Originally I had my heart set on a motorcycle, at last I was going to have my own small pocket rocket… Well that wasn’t meant to be, still too many oppositions :)

There is no way I am going to drive to work, as the office is only down the road (2 Kms), so downgrading (or upgrading) to a bicycle was a logical choice. Being a total nube in the world of bicycle, and so by the grace of destiny, I happen to be sitting next to a colleague who happens to own over 15 bicycles, there was probably no one better to give me all the info. I need.

We have already visited a couple of stores, one was right here in our building (Specilized), and today we walked across Suan Lum Park to another large store (Trek), I have a small budget in mind, and so I pretty much left it in his hands to make all the decision, and with a quick hindsight it was the correct thing to do. I never knew how complicated these bicycles can be now, just like building a PC, all components can be ‘a la carte’ (if you have the money).

Frame, head set, fork, rear derailleur, front derailleur, rims, brake (disc/calliper) and etc… What the &^(*! considering different brands and the different grade of parts within that brand, was enough to set my head spinning… so I was more than grateful for his help :)

After we finished looking around and the store staff did some ‘careful’ measurement of my ‘bike’ size :) this friend picked up his bike from this ‘Trek’ shop (it went in to change the mud guards), so on the way back we had to walk through Suan Lum again, but this time he let me have a quick ride on his (foldable) bike… What a laugh… it must have been forever since I had ridden a bicycle :)

We got it (moving soon) :) and what’s up with the 3 days rule?

Score of friends and various articles on the web all say it would take 3 days, then you’ll be over the hump and sail all the way to a smoke free life… Well, it had already been a week, a fully clean week ‘physically’, but ‘mentally’ is another matter, the need (craving?) is constantly nagging me, and I am looking at every opportunity to give myself a reason to have ‘just one more’… of course I am still clean… but today was the hardest…

Spent the whole morning at the Department of Land, finalising the purchase of the condo., talking about tons and tons of paperwork, luckily TCC’s representative (developer) was there to show the way. Arrived there at a quarter to nine, and I was out again at around eleven (the bank didn’t make it there until gone ten), so all in all it only took around an hour.

So, usually one would celebrate with a smoke (and a pint but as this was Wednesday and no where near lunch time, somehow it was fine to celebrate without that pint :) I was so, so, so very close… but they didn’t get me this time, decided to jump into a taxi and headed straight home :)

Anyway, as of this morning we have a new place to live :) hip hip hooo raaaayyyyyy, we have already chosen the wallpaper/curtain (amicably), the sofa and dining set have also been bought, the next thing is the most important… a fridge… decided to go with Fisher&Paykel, as for the rest, telly, washing machine, etc. would just have to wait a little, needed to get all the essential in first :)

Your mother is over the moon, you’ll be so much closer to the school, so no more hours and hours spent in the car getting all frustrated (2 hours to go 22 kms is quite a farce), not only that, I am now going to be close enough to bike to work (2 kms).

All of us welcome this change, and it would not have been possible without the help of your grandmother (as always) :)

It’s (very) hard to say ‘Goodbye’ :)

Nothing much to say here, you started your summer school last Monday (12.07.10), which was a sign of you growing up, and soon you’ll notice the terrible addiction that I have… and the last thing I wanted is for you to be influenced by my action…

So, since your first day at school, I had decided to stop, to kick this habit of a life time… this won’t be my first time, I actually had a year break from this filthy habit when I’d left University, then went back on it again during my first job… so for over ten years straight now, I have been willingly enslaved to the plant :)

Getting back, last Monday was D-day… millions and millions kick the habit everyday, so this is nothing special… decided to give myself 7 days to slowly cut down, started on the Monday with 6, then down to 2 a day until Saturday, the Sunday was the first free day… It will be four full days, today… I do miss it… but there is no way I am going back… Like I said it was a habit, it felt a little strange after lunch and after work… but hey, habit can be broken, at least I am on the right road…

Many say, the taste buds will return, you’ll breath clearer, the sense of smell will be better and so on… and to be honest none of that happened to me, and I don’t care for it too much, all I know is that you’ll won’t smell it on me anymore… and that is enough to keep me going :)

Overall it has been relative easy, with support from your mother and friends at work (continuously giving me jibs, haa haa haa), made me laugh all the way… :)

Cheers,

Dad :)

It has to stop :)

We have the top ‘Platinum’ package on our cable network (True Vision), and with that comes about a gazillion channels, of course a normal child would have probably be glued to either ‘Nickelodeon’ or ‘Cartoon Network’, but nnnnooooo you have to choose something so terrible and soul draining for all of us to watch… ‘The Shopping Network’ (True Vision channel 10)…

Your mother and I can not still figure out why it has to be the Shopping Channel, and it is literally killing us, as for the past month the same old items are being repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated, we are now at the stage where you mother can fully recite all the scripts for so many products… :) 

Your favourite being ‘HappyCall’ pan, a f*&^ing frying pan that has a f&^%ing seal that can be locked with a stupid f&^%ing magnet… aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh. Every time this comes on you would gather up your mother and I to come and watch it with you, I am not sure if this is how you are getting back at us for not letting you watching too much telly.

Dad :)

May be just a little too ‘Sabai’

Another terrible day on the road, so I had time to think back to the drastic changes we have made to your daily schedule. Usually you would be up around 06:30 to a bottle of 6Oz delicious milk, follow by breakfast at around 09:00, milk again at around 11:00, then a nap from about 11:30/12:00 to to around 14:00/15:00. So your lunch usually comes at around 16:00, plus another bottle of milk that would put your dinner at about 20:00!!! What?

We have realised the errors of our way, so now I get up at 05:30 every morning, among other things to get your breakfast ready by 07:00 (follow by a bottle of milk), this would put your lunch at a respectable time of around 12:00/13:00 follow shortly by your nap. You would be up again at around 16:00 for a bottle of milk then dinner at a perfect time of 18:00…

In the past you have thrown up in the evening, not everyday, but often enough for us to be concern, now with the changing of your schedule we are hoping this problem would go away :) So back to the picture, next week you’ll be starting your summer school, getting you there by 09:00 would be a challenge. This past Monday, the traffic was terrible, and the iPhone was our solution to keep you occupied, sitting in a car for almost two hours and going absolutely no where can frustrate all of us not to mention a little two year old with super hyper energy :)

The main reason that had made us changed your schedule was to get you to school on time (with breakfast inside of you), and so far in this trail week, we have not managed to get you there by nine, but we are getting closer and closer everyday ;)

Almost done :)

The Condo. project is working itself into a reality, your mother is still negotiating with the management to get the price a little lower, but we are not hoping for much. I have already talked to your grandmother for the financial side of it, all I need now is to work with the Bank to get the loan approved, they will come to the office to pick up some of the document just to get the whole process rolling.

This is a huge commitment , but like I said before, it just makes so much sense to move to the centre of the City :)  So things will be pretty tight for a while, I don’t really want to bother your grandparents too much, but what my mother willingly offered so far, is already far too much.

Less than a minimum wage :)

Your mother asked me to take a look at her FB a couple of days ago, she had posted a couple of pics of you, not surprisingly there was a long list of comments from her friends, and it left me smiling for the rest of the day :)

Love you… Dad :)

 

 

You are the one (for the time being)

Almost religiously I have been going to nikonrumors.com every day, hoping to see some news about the D700 replacement, and since I don’t have a decent camera at the moment (after my D90 was stolen) the whole thing of not having a proper camera is driving me crazy.
 
After reading several sources, it looks like the camera I am waiting for may not come out this year at all, so I have been looking at something respectable that will get me by until the ‘one’ comes out (still hoping it would be sooner and later).
 
So a couple of weeks ago I had started  looking into the 4/3 system,  my choices were quite limited either Panasonic or Olympus… I was ‘this’ close in forking out for a GF1, then suddenly, this one came out from the blue, Sony Nex 5, an APS-C sensor mirror-less system. Being the first iteration, it isn’t perfect, but to have something this small with the same sensor as my stolen D90 was just too much… There are loads of great and in depth analysis (www.dpreview.com or www.imaging-resource.com are probably the best two), of course I could have gone with the Samsung NX10 (same ASP-C sensor), but it was just a little big.
 
What really helped was a hand on testing I managed to get at Siam Paragon, just like all of the reviews I have read, the menu system was a bit strange (very point and shoot orientated), but like all other people who enjoy photography, I do have my own need (requirement) namely, fast autofocus, semi manual control (aperture, shutter speed, +ve –ve exp., and so on), fast continuous shooting, flash, great back LCD and a couple of little things. The only thing that is missing for me was an EVF… :)

So I am definitely going for this one, instead of the Canon G11, Panasonic GF1 or the Olympus Pen E-P2, but my thirst won’t be quenched straight away, the darn camera won’t be coming until early next month, I am hoping I can have one before going off to Shanghai again next month.

Time for a drastic change :)

For the past couple of months or so, your mother and I have been very busy (especially your mother) with a very important personal project, rushing around from here to there like a headless chicken on speed, and what or who was it all for, ‘You’, of course.
 
Soon you’ll be starting your nursery school, judging by the way you like to be around others we don’t see any problem for you, but what would be a problem is getting you to the school on time. Just imagine this scenario… The school starts at 08:00 sharp, morning traffic is so bad so we have to allow at least an hour and a half for being on the road, meaning leaving the house at 06:30, add about an hour for getting up, wash & change, that would take us up to 05:30… and your mother have to make your breakfast, meaning your mother have to be up just a little before 05:00… WHAT??? 05:00??? There is no way I am going to put you and your mother through that (on top of that you’ll probably have to have your breakfast in the car).
 
So I have decided to get a condo. in town, and that is why we have been so busy lately, I am so glad to tell you that we have already found a place, but it is super expensive (many people are playing the speculative game, driving up property prices like crazy around here). So for the first time in my life I am going to be in debt with the bank, the dreaded mortgage ;) for the next 22 years I’ll be enslave, feeding into the machine that makes the world go round… the debt machine :)
 
My parents are a bit apprehensive for me to take out such a large mortgage, but just the thought of how much this will improve your mother’s and your quality of life, all the difficulties just pale in comparison. Just wish me luck and hope everything works out in the end.
 
Love you.
 
Dad

Almost a week?

Well, I’d guess this couldn’t be avoided, since you were born I have tried to avoid overseas business trip as much as I could… and with a record of  over 2 years without leaving your mother and you for a single day, well I should definitely get a badge for that :)

Well, all good things must come to an end, tomorrow I am off to Shanghai for about a week, even thinking about it now fills me up with butterflies, a bit silly really, you and your mother have you own routine (which I have never been a part of), and there are lots of back up support (your grandparents), but I am still going to miss you terribly :)

The world is so small now, at the most I am only a tweet away, may be FB would be more appropriate (the roaming charges will definitely go through the roof this time :)

I am soon with all the meetings these few days will fly like Superman on Speed, but when things slow I’ll be glued to my iPhone for sure :)

Pic came from http://cheapoair.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/business_travel.jpg