mediacasting

My 1st iPhone App (on Sale!) :D

2009-01-10T07:47:00.001+08:00

Woohoo! It's finally up! A simple application that helps you determine the key of a song as you hum it or hear it played. Check out the details at:

http://scorelessmusic.com/forum/index.php?board=4.0

Looking forward to announcing the next app. I believe it's going to be *revolutionary* (change the world kinda thing) :D

Welcome to TxRx Garage!

2008-06-24T16:26:00.001+08:00

To all my friends that (still) read my journal here...

I wish to invite all of you to come help warm my new place in Riverwalk! It's called 'TxRx Garage'. Some of you might have an inkling what that means to some degree. ^_^

I'm holding this 'open house' tomorrow, 25th June, Wednesday, from 2pm to 8pm. The details as follows:

TxRx Garage
Address : 20 Upper Circular Road, The Riverwalk, #01-13, Singapore 058416
Phone : 97484395

Do drop me an SMS if you're coming so that I know when roughly to expect you (and won't be caught out of the premise running to Funan to grab some things for the workbench ^_^) Be sure to include your name in your SMS too, just in case. I just switched phones and this brand new one might not register your identity when you msg.

Scoreless Music Free Lessons

2008-05-22T09:18:00.000+08:00

I'll be getting the keys to my new business place on the 9th of June and things should be in full swing from 23rd of June.

One more thing. I'll be conducting free introductory classes for folks who wish to learn how to play the piano/keyboards the Nashville way. Details are up on the updated website www.scorelessmusic.com

Do drop me an SMS, comment or call if you or your friends are keen to see for yourselves how this alternative method of learning music can help you quickly master the skills needed to play music confidently.

(Most of my lesson materials are specifically catered for a christian audience but the music theory and methods taught are universal. You can read more about the foundational method at http://www.nashvillenumbersystem.com)

Do help me spread the word! Thanks! ^_^

Japan Log 01 : Day 1, Osaka Castle

2007-03-27T17:59:00.000+08:00

We arrive at Kansai Airport early in the morning, about 6-7am. Without wasting any time, our tour leader swept us from the airport straight onto the coach to make our way to our first tourist spot. On the way there, morning broke beautifully over the coastline and I did my best to capture it through the window of the coach.

I took a couple more shots along the way, but since I've determined to only showcase highlights, the next shot takes us to the park surrounding Osaka Castle itself.

We were told that the weather in Japan was rather quirky this time round, somehow transiting from spring back to winter and thus upsetting all the predictions on when we'd be able to see some blossoms. With that in mind, I thought to frame the picture above, with the distinction between trees on the left and right. It might be a stretch of interpretation, but one way to look at it is how we normally read from left to right, and thus the transition from green to bare.

Or, I was just trigger-happy and this just happens to be a park scene. :)

Walking along further, we came across a rather interesting metal barrier.

If it were snowing or I had more of a wintery backdrop, this picture would look positively *cold*. Frozen chicken wings, anyone?

But of course the highlight of coming to Osaka Castle would be to see the castle, wouldn't it? And so it was, as we approached it, that we saw it towering over all the busy tourists trying to get the whole castle in frame with their faces somewhere alongside it.

Some tourists and tour groups were really getting into the spirit of things...

... but for my wife and I, we came to Japan for one thing *primarily*... Food. So it didn't take us long to discover the chain of requisite snack shops and their corresponding wares in our faces.

Our first taste of something made in Japan. The octopus balls were huge and steaming in the cold weather, both rather welcoming facts to us poor singaporeans hardly used to the stinging chill of the frequent morning breezes.

We decided to walk about the area instead of going into the castle because we didn't want to spend unneccessarily. Remember? Money is for food only. Well, mostly.

So we checked out a couple of things, and I happened across this bin which made my trigger finger twitch. It would only be much later that we would learn how *hard* it is to actually find a trash bin in Japan. Well, specifically Tokyo. But more on that in the logs to come.

Soon, it was time to gather the tour group and return to our coach to rush off to our next tourist spot. This rushing and tight scheduling would be a theme that would repeat itself over the next few grueling days. And so we bid Osaka Castle a fine morning farewell.

technorati tags:japan, holiday, osaka, castle, morning, sky, birds, trees, park

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Japan Log 00 : The Prequel

2007-03-27T09:57:00.000+08:00

1705. So the counter on my Nikon D100 tells me. And that not counting the photos taken with the Canon A80. It's going to be tough choosing only the best pictures to accompany what I hope will be a decent travel log.

But before getting into Japan Day 1, here's a little backstory leading up to it.

Kris and I originally wanted to go to Japan during a season that has not much rainfall predicted and with a temperature range that's not too cold or hot. However, as we were investigating the best time for me to take my block leave, Kris happened upon a piece of news that saying that a Tokyo Anime Fair would be held in Japan on March 22-25 2007. This led us to check up the dates around that particular day.

Our idea, in order to sample as much of Japan as we could on our maiden trip, was to book a package tour of about 7 days and then extending for another week for free and easy travel.

After checking with several tour agencies around Chinatown, we decided to settle for CTC. compared to all other agency staff, CTC's was professional and very helpful (Jeffrey and Melvin). Not to mention the fact that they had a confirmed group going on March 11.

So in no time at all, we found ourselves on a JAL flight to Osaka.

(Arrival passage at Kansai Airport, Osaka)

technorati tags:japan, travel, holiday, airport

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Show Me The Way, With GPS

2007-02-06T17:47:00.000+08:00

For our planned trip to Japan this April, we're hoping to move around Tokyo on some free and easy days. As Kris and I were discussing it, it occured to me to think about having a GPS system to aid our travels. So it begs the question:

Does anyone have or know someone who has a GPS system we might loan for a period of 2 weeks? Just asking out of curiosity. :)

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Pure Chocolate Indulgence and Anniversaries

2006-11-11T10:01:00.000+08:00

Watch Video

(To Tralagal: Sorry for the lack of updates! :P Here's one now and hopefully more to come)

How do you know when you've just had a great dinner experience?

- When dinner somehow lasts from 7:30pm to 12 midnight
- When you start making all sorts of excuses to come back
- When the people you've invited make all sorts of excuses to come back
- When you give up trying to make excuses to come back and just say "I'm coming back no matter what"

Thanks to Lili, Kris and I have been introduced to this really great cafe that has so impressed us that we're taking every opportunity/excuse to go back there. Our first introduction to it was for Kris' surprise birthday party, and quick to follow on its heels, my birthday party.

No two days from that, it's going to be our 1st anniversary celebration at said cafe. :P

So much has happened in our first year of married life. We really should have documented them but lazy we did become. Apologies to all!

Until the next update then, do click on the pic to see a short clip in which Kris tries one of the desserts at the Cafe run by Clement. (link below)

www.heliocafe.com

Buy A Powerbook G4 For $1200?

2006-05-22T21:06:00.000+08:00

The time has come for me to consider updating my personal laptop. For anyone that's keen on a rather well-spec'd Powerbook G4 12", here are some pics of my unit.

Powerbook Pics

The processor is a 1.33GHz PowerPC G4.

The battery still has 92% of the original capacity according to Coconut Battery app.

The RAM has been maxed to 1.25GB.

It comes with a SuperDrive, which means DVD burning.

The display is powered by GeForce FX Go5200 AGP with 64MB VRAM.

It was bought around Oct 2004.

Do let me know if you're interested or spread the word around to anyone you know that might be interested. :P

What's In A Box

2006-03-07T21:46:00.000+08:00

Watch Quicktime Movie

It used to be that nearly every corner in Singapore had a dustbin, allowing us to attempt to maintain a clean and green city. These days, there are places where it's next to impossible to find a bin due to fears of terrorists exploiting them as convenient bomb drops.

It's in such an environment that we have public service messages telling everyone to report any suspicious-looking packages and bags that are left unattended to. So, when we happened across a curious sight in a crowded shopping centre, we stopped to observe just how people reacted to it.

Phuket Town

2006-03-06T13:36:00.000+08:00

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It's not all beach at Phuket. There's a pretty modern mall situated in the city with prices that match the tourists' wallets. The japanese food is considerably cheaper than what one might find in Singapore, however.

Phuket Seafood Dinner

2006-03-06T13:35:00.000+08:00

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What's a holiday to a beach resort without a seafood dinner? Watch us fumble along trying to determine what would be a good eating venue, and some gained weight! ^_^

Phuket Patong Bayshore

2006-03-06T13:33:00.000+08:00

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After settling in, dumping our baggage and stuff at our 'hotel', we take to the streets and explore the post-tsunami beach. We're told that Phuket's tourist industry makes up a good 90+% of employment and that the buildings are not supposed to be taller than a coconut tree. (Or was that a palm tree?)

Phuket City Tour

2006-03-06T13:29:00.000+08:00

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(I know we've been promising to upload our honeymoon vids for the longest time. Finally found some time to upload the 1st day vids. More to come, hopefully :P)

We finally arrive at our honeymoon destination. There's a guy waiting for us at the airport, some airport transfer service, and he takes us for a short tour before dropping us off at our hotel.

Shopping For Fixtures

2006-02-20T16:38:00.000+08:00

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Having a father-in-law that works in a hardware shop is really handy, especially when you get stuff like staff discounts. We spent a whole sunday afternoon looking at fixtures and appliances, and even saw stuff that amounted to the total of our renovation cost! Some kind of fancy shower costing $19,000+ and it was already sold too.

2006 IPPT Results

2006-02-20T12:35:00.000+08:00

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Remember one of the 1st few posts I made on my mediacasting blog? Well, after an entire year of working at it (or not! ^_^), the results are in.

Salmon Yu Sheng

2006-02-20T12:22:00.000+08:00

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I was told that this Yu Sheng practice was largely a local thing, and one that both Kris and I like a lot! In this particular video, we're at Jeffrey's place and we dumped loads of raw salmon on the other stuff. Oh, to eat it again! *droolz*

2006 Reunion Dinner

2006-02-20T12:08:00.000+08:00

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A most eventful chinese new year reunion dinner with a kitchen blow-out and all the customers (in our section) getting 50% off our bills.

Shiny Car Dance

2006-02-20T11:51:00.000+08:00

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Kris and I were having some super-deformed fun with the reflective surface of a car at Haig Road.

Punggol Flat Floorplan

2006-02-09T18:09:00.000+08:00

Punggol Flat Floorplan

Among all the flats that we surveyed for our home, a number of them had strange shapes and layouts. We were quite pleased when we finally got this unit which has a regular shaped living room, nice and spacious too.

Soon, we'll be filling it up with *stuff*.

Right now, we're in the final stages of settling our interior decor. We're hoping to have it all done up latest by May.

Wedding Photos by Mindful

2006-02-01T21:56:00.000+08:00

View Wedding Photos

Using a newly created account at www.gfoto.com, I managed to put up on the web all the pics taken by Mike. Unfortunately, gfoto.com doesn't seem to have any 'resort' feature, so the pics are all messed up in some wierd order.

Find them at mediacasting.gfoto.com

What Lies Beneath

2006-01-18T14:32:00.000+08:00

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Using a really neat tool, my father-in-law checks the integrity of the floor tiles and parquet. It's amazing what some simple inspection can turn up.

Getting The Keys

2006-01-18T13:45:00.000+08:00

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Finally, after nearly a 3 month waiting period, we get a letter from the Housing Development Board to collect our keys. In the process of entering our home for the first time, we discover the reason for the long delay... (more to come...)

Wedding Photo eBook by Mindful

2006-01-12T18:26:00.000+08:00

View Wedding Photo eBook

Quick quick, spread the word! Lots of effort went into this and we want to thank Mike our photographer for going beyond the call of duty (and money) to do this up for us...

Joash and Kris Wedding Photo eBook

And do also take a look at his other works at www.mindful.com.sg

It's possible that Mike might rotate the link to showcase some other couple's wedding photo ebook so check it out while you can!

Our First Wedding Photobook

2005-11-28T09:44:00.000+08:00

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A big 'thank you!' to Kirby and Maureen for putting together a lovely photo montage book of our wedding. It is our very first printed photobook and it will always be shown with pride for the extent that our friends go to for us. ^_^

CRON.2005

2005-11-27T07:08:00.000+08:00

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... Skip forward into the recent past (26 Nov 2005) ...

We finally found the time to open the 2005 box of timeslips.

Note to self: Feature the interesting to the obscure in a special section on http://www.mrandmrschee.com when there's time to update the site.