Narrowband.org

Coffee Break

Posted by narrowband - 10/07/09 at 12:07:00 am

I’m beat. I have books and papers sprawled all over my desk now but I’m just gonna take a pause and dust my blog a bit. There’s never a day gone without a good cerebral workout. Exams coming up next month. Studies has taken up much of my attention, leaving little time for everything else. This blog, for instance. Facebook though, has become a ritual. It’s much quicker and convenient to access and update!

Music is my favorite remedy for stress. Never regretted flying my guitar down. (She had to be checked-in as an ‘odd-sized cargo’, something like that). Requested for ‘Fragile’ to be pasted all over. That said, I wouldn’t have thought of bringing it with me if I didn’t have a good hard casing to protect it. (Am thinking of getting a slightly cooler case from Bugis… hmm)

Ever wondered why when everyone says the world is not in good economic health, they’re still able to go about living like they’ve always been? Take a walk down Orchard and you’ll be left asking ‘bad times? what bad times?’ Friends are going places (holidaying in Japan, Bangkok, etc), people are buying stuff. Interesting huh.

By the by, I want to share some links with you. They’re my friends’. The e-commerce tsunami sure is big!:-
Steph’s – Little handmade treasures (Steph makes them all herself so check them out!)
Bello Cielo – Alotta Baju Kurung and Kebayas
My Sassy Tank – Fashion, accs…
Chilizky – Fashion, accs…
Just Shop Lah – Fashion, accs…
Sorry, nothing for the guys!

P/s. My friends and I were just watching one of MJ’s concert videos. Simply amazing! I think he will remain as one of the most inspiring characters of all time.

P/s2. Jason Mraz’s blog!

Time of the Year

Posted by narrowband - 03/06/09 at 10:06:01 pm

Everytime I iron my clothes, I always end up spending more time making sure every inch is nicely pressed. I wonder if that’s normal, or is it just me.

My lil baby girl cousin, who just turned a month old when I went to visit her two weeks ago!

I had an interesting flight back home two weeks ago. Behind my row were these two strangers, a not-bad looking Chinese girl and an angmoh who sat next to each other. The girl had a strong China-accent in her otherwise perfect English. And boy could she flirt. You can tell from the way she spoke. I fell asleep at one point only to be awakened by smooching noises. Howz that for a 40-minute flight. From the conversations that took place (I wasn’t eavesdropping, they were just behind me) I gathered that the guy seated next to them was the angmoh’s friend, so he didn’t care. Since it was a cheaper-than bus-ticket flight, I thought I shouldn’t care also lah. So I just sat through it.

Had lunch with my family. Dad loves Canton-i alot. Grandma came too. Met up with some old friends for supper and the next thing I knew, we spontaneously ended up in Neway. I love such spontaneity. We’ve come to realize that the response “Scared you ah?” can sometimes lead us to more than we bargain for. While at Neway I bumped into a number of schoolmates. It’s always nice to be home, isn’t it :) We stayed til the place closed, about 3 in the morning. I took the latest-possible flight back to Singapore that day, and was met with another unexpected experience. Someone had applied some kinda deep muscle rub or something. The smell was damn strong where I was seated (damn). Luckily it was a short flight.

My friends in Singapore treated me to a dinner too, which was nice. Not bad for a first birthday on this island republic. Anyway thanks for all the birthday wishes. These days with Facebook, everyone gets birthday reminders and it has kinda ‘revolutionized’ our life and the way we live, you know. You’ll know when it’s someone’s birthday, or when someone just got hitched (or ditched), went on a holiday, switched jobs, went clubbing, gave birth, or simply just how well a person knows his/her friends, which are completely none of your business but usually you don’t mind knowing anyway.

P/s. Remember SkyTrex Adventure? The new (bigger, better!) park is now open! Go check it out! I know I will.

Across the Causeway

Posted by narrowband - 17/05/09 at 02:05:14 am

Gotta love the weekends. My old wallet developed a huge tear from ageing and excessive abuse, so I went and got myself a new one last weekend. Did some research and concluded that getting one of braun buffel’s collections will not go wrong. Prices in Robinsons and BB’s outlet in Suntec did not differ much. Went for one that has got less card compartments because I don’t like bloated wallets. Was arranging my cards and realized I carried a lot of junk. I also realized I didn’t pick a wallet that’s got a transparent compartment in it. Was never in my criteria and never thought about it. I’ve seen how some people put photos of their loved ones in those compartments. It’s apparent that I’m not that kind of person. Not like I have anybody’s photo to keep now anyway.

Went down to Holland V for another round of live music. It’s becoming a weekly ritual now isn’t it. I don’t remember doing this often back in KL. Maybe because I didn’t actually live in KL itself. Traveling from Subang to KL was a chore. And Subang didn’t have places with weekly live band performances. Chilling out at Holland V was much better than the Beerfest I attended a couple of weeks ago. Music was much better, and the crowd was good too. Parking was a bitch, though that’s not really my problem. The band played, among others, Viva La Vida, Man Who Can’t Be Moved, I’m Yours, and some tracks from the 90′s like Save Tonight (Eagle Eye Cherry! Anybody remember them??), Wonderwall, You’re a God, One Week, etc. I thought they were pretty good.

My friend Chris has a brother who runs a bar in Clark Quay so we headed down there to celebrate our completion of phase one of our ground studies. Everyone did great. For the first time in my life, scoring 100% for a paper didn’t feel like a big deal anymore. But like the principal said, those 6 subjects should be a breeze. I had actually put in more engineering knowledge from university compared to the days when I was in my previous employment. Then again, you can’t really compare studying and working eye-to-eye can you. That exam aside, we had also completed our air grading, with everyone clearing solo by the 15th hour. The occasion itself is an important milestone for every aviator. I am hugely indebted to my instructor, who taught me more than just flying a plane. He became a friend.

We’re now well into second phase of our studies, where flying will no longer be required until we get our ATPL in four months’ time. It will be quite heavy because there’s so much to cover in so little time – which explains why we won’t be doing any flying at all. I also foresee that I won’t be able to return home as often because of the increased workload. Wait, that reminds me – I haven’t been returning home often anyway. Mom randomly called yesterday and asked if I’d like to go home. I thought she had forgotten that I’ve bought return flight tickets for next weekend. Sis suggested that Mom has been missing me quite a bit. I cannot imagine how things are gonna be when I go to Perth, later this year. We’re gonna be spending about 10 months there :-/

The trip home next week is supposed to be a birthday sort of thing, though it’s about a week early as far as I can tell from the calendar. Mom said something about the Chinese calendar. I will never understand how that works. A small in-house party was even suggested, much to my shock. I thought that would be weird. It’s not like I’m turning 21. I don’t know. Will see how that goes. Just now I was spending about an hour editing some recent studio portraits of Mom. I did not realize how much the creases and wrinkles have cropped up until I compared the photos to those I’d edited. It’s frightening how time passes without you even realizing it. I wish there was more that could be done about it.

P/s. I disposed of my old wallet with some money left in it. I faintly recall Mom once said that it’s considered good luck to have some money left inside. Another one of those Chinese thing, you know. Though not a staunch believer in these things, I follow sometimes. Anyway, anyone heard of anything like this before?

Hope

Posted by narrowband - 20/04/09 at 09:04:17 pm

Last weekend I was at this place called The White Rabbit and I loved it a lot. It wasn’t as noisy as some other places down town and it’s got a really cozy atmosphere in which you could chat with your friends without having to scream your lungs out. Honestly, that’s how chillout sessions are supposed to be. To add, the whole place was simply beautiful. Friends and I stayed til late talking about careers, marriages and things like that, which was more brainjuice-inducing than I had expected. (From that session I concluded that the best age for me to settle down will be +-30 :p)

Anyway, I was looking through some of my old photo albums and I found this photo I took earlier this year. It was my cousin’s baby, taken at my grandma’s. Candy suggested that the baby’s clasped hands symbolizes hope. I couldn’t agree more ;) Speaking of hope, I’ve got a very important milestone coming up in two weeks’ time. I hope to do well in that one, because that’s the very reason why I’m here across the causeway… Will let you guys know more, later ;). We’ll talk about it again.

P/s. Facebook is quickly taking over my internet “airtime” lately… I almost forgot about my blog! :p

P/s2. A mini MMU reunion took place last weekend also. Chiawyin flew all the way here to visit me Jiin and Charng!

Surprise Visit

Posted by narrowband - 11/04/09 at 01:04:10 am

My friend found one of our housemates in trouble just now, shortly after I left the house. We’ve been hearing noises in the ceiling for the longest time but this is the first time we’re seeing this housemate of ours in person.

Photo courtesy of Eddie!

As you can see, it’s still alive and struggling to come out of the bowl. Flushing it down is a bad idea. If it gets stucked somewhere in the pipelines and dies, it could stink. Besides, it’s Singapore. Heard of Newater?

I hope my buddy Ed will save this poor rat from the bowl. I wonder how…

Long Weekend

Posted by narrowband - 09/04/09 at 09:04:09 pm

Many Malaysians are taking advantage of tomorrow’s Good Friday to return to KL for the long weekend. Unlike Malaysia, Good Friday is a recognized public holiday in Singapore. My Cheng Beng trip last weekend had to be postponed because of some reason. I had to change my travel date last-minute. Luckily there’s no extra charge for change of travel date, as long as it’s the same route. Problem is, all the good seats have been snapped up. I’m traveling tomorrow, and I will be lugging my guitar down to Singapore (on Sunday), instead of my camera! (I have to choose… they’re both bulky :( )

Random pic: How’s my fireworks graffiti? :p First time doing this, together with my sisters, at a playground near our house during CNY09! I know the gap between I and D looks like an N but then if I were to ‘shop that stroke away then it won’t be realistic dy!

I was the unofficial guitarist for one of the performances that we had to do some time ago, and coming up next we’ll be doing this community service project at some home. I’m glad that my Singaporean friends are quite musically-inclined as well. We have a lot in common here. I mean when I’m back in KL I can hardly find someone who knows the lyrics to 3EB’s Semi-Charmed Life! That’s just an example. You know where I’m getting at.

P/s. I’m still trying to sell my Sigma 70-200mm APO f2.8 Canon-Mount lens. Any takers? Check out my entry on the inaugural night Formula 1 race in Singapore last year for some sample photos taken with that lens. It’s a non-macro version (read: old!), but it’s got good glasses. I’ll let it go for RM1.4k (negotiable!) if anyone’s interested. It’s good for hobbyists ;) Let me know ok.

Back to School

Posted by narrowband - 25/03/09 at 10:03:46 pm

Everything that I’m doing now reminds me of my university days. It’s exactly the same thing. And that reminds me of my housemates. I find myself sitting at my desk in my room after returning home from class, studying. I remember doing the same thing with my housemates 2 years ago. I’d take over the dining table and begin studying there. With Hui sitting in front of me, hugging her huge stuffed toy. We’d take breaks and cook noodles together, watch TV and resume burning the midnight oil. I now have my study lamp switched on, with a stack of textbooks waiting to be covered.

Classes have been okay. We’ve gotten most of the important admin paperworks out of the way, and are now pretty much geared up for our first ‘field outing’, which should take place some time next week. My friends are a pretty hardworking bunch. Which is good for me because that adds to the pressure. Pressure is good. It’s how you manage/react to the pressure that matters. I can’t put up much info or photos directly related to my job. In fact it’s not even a job, yet. It’s a study phase. Learning curve is quite steep, so more effort has to be put in. If we don’t do well, we’ll be screwed. Big time. There’s too much at stake. My close friends would know that.

Not much photography had taken place, although I did lug my SLR camera down with me. Alot of snapshots using my trusty N95 though. Yiming has been asking me out for shooting sprees but I could never find time, nor did I feel ready for them. There’s always something to do, something more important, something more urgent. There’re hasn’t been much leisure time since I came here. Well except for the short trips to the mamak joints nearby, that is. I’m returning home for a friend’s wedding and also for Cheng Beng. They’re among those things that I try not to skip.

Good Friday weekend is another good opportunity to return home. But the traffic will be horrendous. Coach tickets will be expensive. I’ve therefore decided to stick around and catch up on some reading. It’ll be good because my Singaporean friends will be returning to their homes for sure. I’ll then have the whole house to myself. This again reminds me of my university days, where my home was just about 20 minutes’ drive from the campus. I stayed in, and returned only during the weekends (mainly for laundry :p). Those days, the ‘foreigners’ were those from out of town, like Penang or Johor. Now it’s exactly the opposite. It’s interesting.

I love walking around the city. I love this place. I was in Orchard Rd last weekend and bought myself two shirts. I swear I could end up doing ‘little (impromptu) shoppings’ every other weekends if I’m not careful in limiting my cash outflow. I got an earful from Mom for that, by the way. She would talk to me via MSN video call sometimes. My new laptop has a built in 2.0mp webcam that rox my sox off. I got this laptop from the Singapore IT Fair in Suntec recently, which by the way, was damn jam packed with people. Coming out of the MRT station itself was a challenge.

For those who’re expecting photos from my recent outdoor activities, sorry… ;-( I get paid to do all that stuff and therefore they’re considered work-related. I was told it’s not appropriate to disclose too much info about the programme I’m doing. It’s a stressful programme and the last thing I want is getting terminated for some stupid reason. Long story short, it’s a 2-year corporate training thingy and I’m now doing my best to clear the hurdles that I face. Thankfully I’ve got supportive friends, coursemates and family members – they’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me…

P/s. Hello guys, it’s been a while huh… :) I did *not* get to attend Jason Mraz’s concert (sold the tic off). How was it?

P/s2. Charng and Jiin are down here too. Meeting them made me feel just like home…

Protected: Dum Dee Dum (Part 3)

Posted by narrowband - 13/02/09 at 10:02:49 am

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Cameron Highlands 2009

Posted by narrowband - 11/02/09 at 11:02:00 pm

There really isn’t much to do in Cameron Highlands besides checking out tea plantations, strawberry farms, cactus nurseries and stuff like that. Some people don’t feel like going for a holiday anymore just by imagining the lack of activities that awaits them. Let me teach you a trick – Bring along an SLR camera and you’ll enjoy wherever you go. Of course, nothing beats holidaying with your best friends too!

Continue reading Cameron Highlands 2009…

Steamboat Macro

Posted by narrowband - 08/02/09 at 02:02:43 pm

I was in Cameron Highlands for the weekend, for some chocolate fondue, steamboat, mahjong, movies, strawberry plucking, and alot of camwhoring! We took around about 1000 shots in three days. Let’s begin with some macro shots of our steamboat foodstuff.

Continue reading Steamboat Macro…

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