My "England" really that bad mer?

I was browsing around my favourite Mass Order section of VRZone when I came across this interesting clock, Moshi Voice Control Alarm Clock. Interesting because you can give the clock instruction for various functions, like asking for time and temperature, set time and alarm, turn on the night light, all without touching the clock.

I thought it was pretty cool, like those futuristic movies where the computer greets you when you wake up, tell you the day, time and weather, that I decided to get one. But it turn out to be frustratingly funny rather than cool.

What do I mean? Check out what happen when I tried to show off to Lilian the new toy.

Vincent: Hello Moshi
Moshi: Welcome, command please
Vincent: Set time
Moshi: Tell me the correct time
Vincent: 9.30am
Moshi: The time is now set to 9.13am

Hmm, maybe I wasn't clear enough. So I try agan.

Vincent: Hello Moshi
Moshi: Welcome, command please
Vincent: Set time
Moshi: Tell me the correct time
Vincent: 9.30am
Moshi: The time is now set to 9.13pm

At this point, Lilian burst out laughing... Feeling embrassed, I was determine to set it right.

Vincent: Hello Moshi
Moshi: ... (ignored me)
Vincent: HELLO MOSHI
Moshi: Welcome, command please
Vincent: Set time
Moshi: Tell me the correct time
Vincent: 9.31am
Moshi: The time is now set to 9.31pm

By now Lilian was rolling on the bed laughing non-stop.

Vincent: HELLO MOSHI
Moshi: Welcome, command please
Vincent: SET TIME
Moshi: Tell me the correct time
Vincent: 9.31 A-M!
Moshi: The time is now set to 5.31am

I gave up and set the time manually with the buttons...

To Flash or not to Flash?

Met up with my NPCB friends yesterday at Werner's Oven yesterday for Debra's gathering (before her wedding next week). Found the food strongly flavoured (read salty) to my liking so not gonna talk about food.

Instead, gonna touch on abit on shooting indoors at night. Now I'm no expert myself so if you would like to share and contribute your ideas and knowledge, feel free to do so in the comments box. Yesterday's set up is similar to shooting during wedding dinners as well.

Above are two photos of Xavier with our beautiful bride to be. The first photo is shot with the on camera flash (the pop up flash on your DSLR or the flash on the point and shoot cameras) and the second is shot with flash.

Which photo would you prefer to keep? It definitely the second photo for me as it looks more natural. The on camera flash has made the first photo too harsh and flat. Which is why I always try to shoot without flash.

So point 1, try to shoot without flash. How do you do that? If you are shooting from a compact with no manual controls, sorry there is nothing much you can do unless you have one of those powerful compacts (like the Canon S90 which has a F2.0 aperture and better ISO noise control). If you have one of those cameras with manual control, try to use higher ISOs (800 and above, depending on your tolerance for ISO noise), open up your aperture to the max (the smallest F-stop number your lens can open up to), and a reasonable shutter speed (the slowest shutter speed your hands can hold steady and still capture the subject).

Most DSLRs can control the ISO noise pretty well so should be a problem. For me, its better to get a slightly grainy shot without on camera flash then a clear shot with with on camera flash. As for fast lens, you do not have to break your piggy bank to get one (although fast lenses are generally more expensive than their slower peers). You could get a fast prime lens (like the Canon 5000 F1.8) and still enjoy low light photography. As for shutter speed, I try to get at least a speed of 1/25secs with shooting people indoor. Anything lesser than that its a hit or miss for me (a fair number of shots would be blur, blame it on my shaky hands).

With the above, you should be able to get pretty cool indoor night shots. But this setting cannot handle all situation, especially group shots, because the large aperture has a shallow depth of field which will cause some people in the group shots to be blurry.

Point 2) Group shots. This is why you always see wedding photographers using those big flash heads. These flash are needed to provide enough flash power to reach and lit everyone. But the idea is to compliment the surrounding lightand not to overpower it (like my shot above). This is what they call a fill-in flash. Anyway its a big topic by itself so if you wish to learn more about it, check out Stobist. I am still very green to strobes and still learning...

Baby Xavier vs Mini Godzilla (GTR) - Part II

Following the biting incident, I decided to bring out my Mini Godzilla to train Xavier. The previous time in "Baby Xavier vs Mini Godzilla (GTR)", he couldn't crawl yet so Mini Godzilla had the advantage.

So with the ability to crawl, how does he fare? I must say he is pretty fast. Many a times when I lost contact with my car (partly due to his body blocking my radio signal), he was able to catch hold of it. I wonder if I could use this in the baby crawling competition, because if I could, Xavier got a pretty good chance of winning.

Two Hours Shopping, ONE Hour Parking

Does my title make sense to you? It sure doesn't to me. But that's what happen yesterday.

We decide to do some Christmas shopping yesterday. And given that I'm running out of holes on my belt and my trusty Dr Martens work shoe seems to be finally coming apart, I needed some normal shopping on top of Christmas shopping.

Decided to head down to Takashimaya since they usually have great offers before Christmas. Lilian checked the SG Parking app on iphone and since Taka's per entry is just $0.70 higher than Wisma, we decided to just park at Taka for convenience.

BUT this convenience turned into a nightmare. We were trapped in this carpark jam at level 6 for ONE freaking #*%?>! hour. When I saw the jam I thought its just the normal carpark queue. Then it started to feel like the wedding dinner carpark jam. That quickly became the worst carpark jam I have ever been stuck in.

For the whole ONE hour, my car could only inch every few minutes. Add that to a stubborn Xavier crying to be latched to sleep, I could feel my face turning black to a point I refuse to let any other cars cut into my front (and there are heaps of ugly Singaporeans).

So after ONE freaking hour in the great carpark jam of Takashimaya, we were finally freed... Only to hit the CTE jam next...

Xavier "Bruised" Lee

Xavier had his second haircut on Wednesday (25 Nov 09). The first was when he was five months ago when we shaved his head bald. He certainly looks much neater after the haircut.

He would also remember this day for another reason, a bad one. You guys see the red mark on his forehead? He was actually bitten by an older boy in his class. It actually looked pretty bad, as you could probably see from the photo it was red and swollen.

We are not angry with the boy, for we as parents know kids "play rough" at time and as they are still young, they are still learning. Fight, biting, pushing, hitting are all part and parcel of play for kids their age. What we are displease about is the fact that the parents of that boy didn't even bother to give us a courtesy apology. One of the teachers at the center had told the parents what happen on Friday (about the time when we went to pick up Xavier), as we see her carrying Xavier and showing the "damage".

What happens next was the parents saw us coming to pick Xavier up, they just left without a word. Thursday morning when we bring Xavier to the center, again we cross path at the entrance and again they treated us as transparent. What ill-manners parents.

I been trying to teach Xavier self-defence and lesson one happens to be "Poke the freaking eyes". Tell your Master Ong not to come near Xavier for he might not get away the next time round.

On a side note, Lilian and my Mum had ask me not to teach kids such violent thoughts. I think its a guy thing but I strongly believe being about the fend for yourself and to be able to fight back as self defence is important. Its a different story if he starts a fight and bully someone else, that is when I would discipline him. But if he bites back when someone bites him, I would give him a pat and say "Well done boy!".

Baby "Mah Piu Poh" (Newspaper)

Yesterday we went to Lilian's colleague's baby girl Kirsten's 1st Birthday party. Her colleague is also a photo enthusiast and was running slideshow of Kristen's photos from birth. It sort of kick me in the head that I have taken much lesser photos of Xavier recently than during his first three months.

Lilian recently bought for Xavier a baby newspaper from Combi. I love this Japanese company products, especially the Smile Lab series. Its pretty innovative and cute.
It is made of synthetic material so it is almost "indestructible" by a baby. They also pack a rattle and a squeaky in it. Below is an image of it beside today's Sunday Times.
So did Xavier have fun "reading" his newspaper? Not really, he throws it away like all other toys. Haha...

"Hello, where is my newspaper?"

"Ok, let's see today NTUC got any diapers on offer or not..."

Da Jia Shi Porridge

We went for a short staycation at The Sentosa Resort and Spa with Eric and Elsie as we were not too confident of bringing Xavier on an overseas trip but we badly wanted a getaway nonetheless. But before we set out to Sentosa, Eric brought us to one of his favourite porridge stall, Da Jia Shi Porridge.

What's unique with this porridge stall the couple serve up the tasty Mixed Deep Fried Pig's Intestine Porridge.
The fried pig intestines are yummy and pair very well with the porridge. It has this crispy outer layer that is so addictive, I just could not stop eating. And as you can see from the photo, the portions are generous. Mine even has cuttlefish in it (I think Eric added that when he ordered). Even after finishing a bowl, I didn't have that jerlat feeling.

They also sell raw fish which you can order as a side dish. I am not a big fan of raw fish so I can't really comment on it.

Blk 335 Smith Street
#02-147 Chinatown Complex Market
Singapore 050335

Xavier's First Tooth

We got a pleasant surprise yesterday when I notice his first tooth sprouting out from his gum. You can also see the gum forming the shape of the front two teeth.

I been trying to get a natural smiling Xavier to show off his first pearly but he is either too fast resulting in blurry image (like the shot below), or his tongue would block it or he would grab the toy I use to distract him and hit my lens.

In the end we had to resort to pulling his lower chin down to get a clear shot. Will try to get a smiling shot again when the tooth is more obvious.

Season Greetings...

As we inch closer to the holiday season, the X'mas feel gets stronger. Malls are playing X'mas songs and Orchard Road is once again lighted with X'mas lights. We went shopping at Daiso today and they had some X'mas hair bands. Couldn't help but put them on Xavier.

Does he look abit like Dr. Evil with his finger in his mouth? Hehe...

Major Drama yesterday, Drama today

Yesterday morning was one of the more dramatic morning I had in a long time. We were at the Koufu food court at Market Street car pack having our breakfast when Xavier started making the "Mm Mm" sound like he was passing motion.

I was jokingly asking him "Xavier 大便啊?", he just looked at me and smile. I checked his diaper from the top of his butt and it looked clean (didn't pass motion). So I played with him while Lilian disappears somewhere (she didn't want me to say in blog where she went).

Anyway moments later I detected a foul smell. Since I just checked him not long ago it was clean and thinking he just had a smelly fart (he has been hacing lots of smelly farts recently) , I carried him up from his pram. To my horror, his mega size poo has overwhelmed his diaper and covered the back of his right leg. I quickly lift him up and lay the underproof pad over his pram to prevent is from dirtying the pram. But he refused to sit down after I carried him.

Now, imagine myself wearing long sleeve rolled up and work pants, carrying Xavier under his arm-pit with his poo staining the right side of his long pants, in the middle of an air-conditioned food court. And Xavier was yelling and kicking at the same time. So Drama. And I was in that position for a good 5 mins before Lilian appears again. Those 5 minutes felt like eternity.

With Lilian back, the next challenge was changing his super soiled pants and diaper using the pram, with Xavier kicking, yelling and trying to turn onto his tummy while on the pram. We almost went MAD, both of us. Somehow after another 5 minutes we manage to successfully change his diaper. And it was left to me to wash his super soiled pants before putting in a plastic bag to bring back to wash. What a morning.

And today, it was mini déjà vu. Xavier made the same sound again and Lilian disappeared yet again. This time I carried him early to check if he poo and if it leaked. But as he was wearing a suit outfit, it was hard to check if he poo unless I strip his lower half. So I just checked if any leaked. As there were none, I then carried him with his bum sitting on my arm.

The fact is he did poo and I think it was due to this action that the poo got squeezed out of his diaper onto his suit and my sleeve. Although it was more manageable today, I am now very weary whenever he makes that "Mm Mm" sound now.

Greedy Xavier

We got the first "complaint" from Xavier's teacher yesterday. It seems he is very greedy and even after he is fed, he would eye other babies milk bottles or porriage bowls when the teachers are feeding the other babies.

When I say eye, I mean really eye, like a hungry wolf watching rabbits hopping around. In fact, the "complaint" was he "bit" a teacher on the arm when being denied food that is not his. Well I think he didn't literally bite, probably just did his "Goldfish" move.

So what is his "Goldfish" move? He would open his mouth wide and attach it to one of your bodyparts, then while attached, shake his head like he is saying "no". Nothing harmful except that area get wet with his saliva. He likes to do that to my shoulder, my arm and my fingers.

Anyway there is now another commercial that would catch his attention and make him stop whatever he is doing and stare at the television. I have attached it below. Pretty nice song I must say.

Soon Soon Huat Seafood Restaurant

Had a boys night out with Rick and Guoxian recently and I suggested we try out this place I saw on the TV program "煮炒来咯" featuring pig intestine on sizzling hotplate. We decided to order the three dishes featured on the TV program and add a vegetable dish and rice to complete our dinner.

First up was the vegetable, Sambal Kangkong. I find the taste pretty bland. I mean its spicy but without much flavour. I could hardly taste the shrimp paste.

Next up was the reason I suggested this place. Named "SSH Special Sizzling Hotplate Dish", its sambal pig intestine on hotplate. This dish is very unique as the usual pig intestine dish is the Kway Chap and you would hardly find pig intestine on hotplate. I was half expecting some intestine to have the black char on it but none of it was burned. The hotplate did well to keep the dishes warm throughout the whole dinner. The pig intestine is very Q and doesn't have any smell to it.

I would highly recommend this dish. Named "Royal Pork Ribs", its actually pork ribs over creamy butter sauce and curry leave. I love pork ribs to death and this is an exciting twist to the usual sweet and soar/coffee/mongolian style. The pork ribs are tender and the creamy butter sauce pair very well with the ribs. There isn't much fatty bits to it, which is good. I would come back to this place just for this dish.


The last dish is named "Dragon Ball", I think after the popular Japanese anime ドラゴンボール (七龙珠). There were exactly seven pices on the plate (yes we counted them). Fried yam balls that are crispy on the outside and oh so smooth and soft on the inside. And there is a piece of scallop in each ball. A must have for yam lovers.

Soon Soon Huat Seafood Restaurant
Blk 94 Henderson Road
Singapore 150094

The curse of October...

Xavier seems to be under a certain spell. He has been sick for the WHOLE of October. Started with running nose, followed by cough, cough again, diarrhoea, diarrhoea again, running nose and today, cough yet again. The cycle never seems to end. Is it too much to ask for Xavier not to be sick for at least a month?!?!

Ok, now that's out of my chest, let's talk about something more light-hearted.

We went to The Calrose yesterday to a baby's 1st birthday celebration. It's the second time I've been there in 2 weeks, the first being Anthony's baby girl Kaelyn's baby shower celebration. This development gave me a very nice feel when I first came. Low rise blocks surrounding a number of swimming pools and water features, giving the whole place a very resort feel.

Lilian says this is the kind of condo she wants to stay in. So are we gonna buy a condo soon? The answer is NO. Firstly, we have not satisfied the HDB's required occupation period of 5 years. Secondly, we do not have the money. But its always to have dreams right?

Anyway, Xavier was grouchy throughout the whole party, as if saying, "Why I sick again?". We ask the same question too.

Like Father, like Son...

My mum brought over an album of my baby photos showing how much Xavier looked like me when I was his age. One of the photos that caught my attention was this:

I remember Xavier also liked to raise his fist when he was about 3 months old. It was as if he discovered his fist and wanted to tell us, "Hey, look what I found! My fist!"

Xavier: Eight Months On...

Time flies and before we know it, Xavier is already pass 8 months old. But this month has not been a good month as Xavier was sick for most part of the month.The latest is the case of diarrhea leading to a horrible case of nappy rash.

He has been seeing Dr. Chee more than his grandparents (my in-laws) that even the nurse at the clinic has a nick for him, "Cool Man". This is because he never smile at the clinic before, instead, only giving his deadly glares.
Xavier never fails to amaze us with new skills, escpecially this month. He been crawling around on his fours at the infant care in a speedy manner. So much so that one of the other parents at the center calls him the "fastest moving baby". But at home he still like to crawl around on his tummy instead of fours.

Lilian manage to capture Xavier's first successful attempt to stand with support (not our support, but support of objects around him). Below, you can see him getting one of his favourite object, the remote control, from the sofa.
He has also learnt to pick up food with his thumb and index finger and putting the food into his mouth. And with his greedy nature, he has attempted to pick up two to three of the biscuits all at the same time and putting them into his mouth, unsuccessfully. Slow down boy, why you eating so fast like your dad?
He has also promoted from drinking from a bottle teat to sucking from a straw.
Lastly, he surprised us one Sunday morning leaping around and launching himself like a baby torpedo. He hasn't done that again since that Sunday though.
Get well soon Xavier so we can play more stuff together.

What a Wonderful Wedding...

I was invited to Ker Jent and I-May's wedding yesterday evening at Fullerton Hotel and I darn say it was one of the best wedding I have been to. I knew I-May from my Citibank days and Ker Jent was coincidentally my secondary school classmate from SJI. So the wedding was like a big gathering of my friends from my old workplace and my old school.

The setting was nothing short of fantastic and the food ranked one of the best I have eaten at weddings. I mean I haven't been to any other weddings that have foie gras in lotus leaf rice. The guys from "Let There Be Light" had also captured very story telling photos of the actual day morning event. I love their photography style.

The wedding table gifts were also one of the most unique I have seen. One is a mini musical box and the other is a heart shaped glass paperweight. This is one wedding I truely enjoyed myself. My only regret is not bringing my camera along to take photos of the beautiful couple.

Here is wishing Ker Jent and I-May a very blissful marriage!

Darth Xavier is back!

The Dark Forces (Dr. Chee) has once again lure Xavier to the dark side and made him Darth Xavier again (well he put Xavier on a 4+2 days Nebuliser course). Xavier didn't get Bronchitis again but he has been coughing for two weeks and it was getting worse so Nebuliser seems to be the next best thing.

Prescribing medication for Xavier has been a challenge for Dr. Chee due to his size. "He is a 8 month old baby in a one year plus body size" was how he put it. Yeah we know tat, since he is wearing 12-18 months clothes now. So if he prescribe based on his age, it might not be effective for him (too little). If he prescribe based on his "body" it might be too much.

This time round its more challenging for us to do the Nebuliser peacefully. Xavier would toss and turn and wiggle his way around, use his hands to slap and push away the mask, kick and bounce his way out of it. We had no choice but to engage a higher power for help. He came readily to our rescue, in the form of a chubby purple suit. Yes Barney is here to keep Xavier still.


Image from Amazon website.

It's amazing Barney could catch kids attention so easily. I do not know if its something to do with the size, the colour, the voice or the chucker but kids are just drawn to it, Xavier included.

The latest Tiger Beer commercial is also a sure attention grabber for Xavier. Whenever it is aired on TV, he would drop everything he is doing and just stare at the commercial till its finished. Now that's what I call a successful commercial.

Singapore Sun Festival 2009 - Afro Cuban All Stars

Image from Esplanade website.

I haven't been this drench from dancing for years and I haven't been this high for a long time. But yesterday I found my happy feet again (although they are aching from the dancing now). What am I talking about? The Afro Cuban All Stars concert at Esplanade yesterday evening.

The magical performance got the whole Esplanade Concert Hall dancing to the soulful Cuban favourites. The first two pieces got our hearts racing already but typical of Singaporean attending a concert, everyone just (recklessly) sit and listen, soaking up the Cuban beats. Then Juan de Marcos González came over to the mic and said, "You guys gonna dance right? Free your mind."

Slowly, two by two people started to go to the aisles and area near the exit sign (the green sign near the exit door when there are usually to dance. Vivien picked the seats on level 2 where its a single row (at the curve of the hall) so we could just stand up and dance without interrupting others. And before we knew it, everyone was on their feet dancing. The talents in this band is unbelievable and whenever one of the members had a solo to flaunt their skills, it always ends with thunderous applause from the audience.


The above youtube clip shows a classic performance from the "old school" Afro Cuban All Stars when the Cuban legends like Rubén González and Ibrahim Ferrer were still alive and playing with the band.


This clip shows the "new" Afro Cuban All Stars, similar to the crew that had performed for us yesterday (except we didn't have the trombone guy).

If you had heard of or known and love Buena Vista Social Club, Afro Cuban All Stars would not be foreign to you. If you are new to them, "Free Your Mind" and have a listen to their music. Optional Rum and Cuban cigars for complete experience.

p.s. I feel like dancing again!

Tetsu Japanese Restaurant

I got friends asking what happen to my food blogging? Have I stopped eating? Hell no. It's just that I have fewer personal time as Xavier gets more sticky to us. Plus the fact that he is sick (yes, again!).

Anyway I got invited by Julia (see her post on Tetsu at AromaCookery) to accompany her to a food tasting session at Tetsu Japanese Restaurant during my MTA. And how could I reject the chance to taste free food (and drinks), both in the menu and out of the menu, plus the opportunity to hone my skills taking food shots?

Well the experience taught me that life as a food blogger is not as easy as it seems. The food came fast and furious and by the time we finished shooting and started eating, some of the food were not as it should have tasted (if it was eaten immediately). Below are my take on the food.

The Renkon (Lotus Root) chips were thin and crispy, a healthier choice to potato chips?

Fugu Mirin Boshi, or more commonly known as Blowfish or Pufferfish, had Julia and I raise our eyebrows (not to the tune of Cadbury commercial though). However Tetsu PR assure us it's dried and 100% non-lethal. The taste? Sweet, it's like a cross between dried cuttlefish and Bak Kwa. Goes best with some beer and some EPL matches.

This dish above is the popular corn tofu. Quite unique to me as I never had corn tofu before. You get bits of corn in it.

The Daikon Goose Liver is one of the innovative dishes. Pairing foie gras with radish, the juicy radish serves to neutralise the sinful goose liver. I do find the goose liver a little overcooked to my liking.

I love bacon. Use it to wrap fat, juicy oysters and grill them and you got yourself a winner.

On to the heavier stuff. Hotplate Wagyu beef, Aji Shioyaki (Grilled Macherel) and Ebi Mentaiko Yaki. I like the grilled prawns. It has that creamy mayonnaise that goes well with the roe and the prawn meat.

Next up is their signature dish, the Katsu Don. The PR highly recommend we try the Katsu Don topped with Japanese curry as its different from the Japanese curry we usually get outside. And true enough, it didn't have the powdery taste to it. The Katsu was also thick and crispy.

If you are a fan of udon, you definitely have to order this. Specially air-flown from Japan, the Hiyashi Udon has a texture that would leave you saying "QQ" after eating it.

Above are the mixed Tempura set and the Dragon Roll Maki. Presentation has been high on the mark and these were no exception.

I had told the girls about how a Japanese sitting next to my wife during our first flight to Japan had insisted on ordering the Yuzu drink for us on the plane. Its a kind of citrus juice that has a light unique taste. He had said that the drink is only available on flight and is not easily available elsewhere. The PR thoughtfully asked the kitchen if they had any and came back with this Yuzu Komachi Sake. Though not the same, this sake version equally delightful to toast to.

Still on the yuzu theme, this dessert had me wanting more. With yuzu sherbet on top and strawberry ice shaving below, this dessert provided a light, tangy finish to a wonderful lunch.

However, if you prefer the more traditional ice cream, Tetsu's black sesame ice cream will not disappoint. Just one spoonful is enough to send you to heaven. Don't believe me, try it yourself.