Category: My Good Life

Categories
Diary

Learning Trail With Children At Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park

As a keen supporter of corporate volunteering program, when the learning trail activity with children from low income families was announced, I quickly signed up for it.  Turns out, only 6 of us have put our names down.  Unlike the one we did for the elderly, this activity was intense.  And it involved quite a bit of reading up and preparation as well.

Bishan AMK Park with the Children

By the time our chartered bus has rolled into the neighborhood, immediately, I saw kids and teenagers jumping up and down eager to attend our learning trail event.  Once they entered the bus, one by one they have started screaming!  Really loudly so.  I was slightly intimately by them.  I did a quick headcount.  Around 20 of time.  All screaming at the same time as they dashed into the bus looking for a seat.  Aged between 8 to 18, these kids were active.  Hyperactive.

Soon, we found out that these wonderful kids were from four Malay families.  Beyond Social Services has organized this event and our organization has participated.  Their target groups are low income families.  Families that may have a single parent, or from teenage mothers.  The kids may not have sufficient parental care because their parents need to work, and at times night shift.  Some kids may be delinquencies and Beyond Social Services‘s role would be to facilitate the parental ownership of the issue.  Beyond Social Services also engages volunteers to provide tuition to the kids, as well as regular activities such as soccer for the boys and dancing for the girls.  Our role today was to bring them out for a half day trip and raise the awareness of water conservation.  Play some games that were relevant to the theme.  Hand out gifts to everyone.  Basically, have a fun time.  By the time the event has ended, I was exhausted.  But it was a heartwarming and fulfilling experience.

Click here to view the photo album of today’s event.

As mentioned previously, Bishan-AMK Park has recently been renovated.  The old concrete canal has been converted into a natural river.  It is part of our government’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) initiative to transform Singapore’s drains, canals, and reservoirs into beautiful and clean streams, rivers and lakes for recreation and community bonding.

Singapore is a small country.  We have been relying on Malaysia – our neighbor – for water supply under two bilateral agreements.  One expired in 2011 and the second one will expire in 2061.  With the completion of the Marina, Punggol, and Serangoon reservoirs (which brings the number of reservoirs in Singapore to a total of 17), the water catchment area has been increased from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s land surface.  We have plan to boost water catchment area to 90% by 2060.

Then we have NEWater, which is a high-grade reclaimed water produced from treated used water that is further purified using advanced membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection.  Our NEWater plants is now meeting 30% of the nation’s water needs.  By 2060, we intend to push this to 50%.

Singapore has one of the Asia’s largest seawater reverse-osmosis plant.  Producing 30 million gallons of desalinated water a day, it is currently meeting 10% of our nation’s water needs.  By 2060, the plan is to ramp up the desalination capacity by 10 times in meeting at least 30% of our water demand.

Today, our per capita domestic consumption is 154 liters a day.  Water conservation programs are important.  We can never have enough water if we do not treasure what we have and use water wisely.  Here are some of the ideas that may help lowering the consumption to 140 liters by 2030.

  • Monitor your water bills.
  • Take shorter showers and turn off the tap while soaping.
  • Use a mug when brushing your teeth.
  • Check and repair leaks promptly.
  • Install water saving devices such as thimbles.
  • Use water-efficient devices.
  • Cut down your shower time to 5 minutes.

It's a beautiful park!

Categories
Concert

Tiffany Alvord Live In Singapore – A Strange But Interesting Aftertaste

Poster of Tiffany Alvord live in Singapore.

Frankly speaking, I had no idea what to expect.  Tiffany Alvord‘s music lives inside YouTube.  The production quality of her music videos is professional.  I don’t YouTube often.  But I enjoy celebrity artists like Tiffany who push out good stuffs regularly.  Close to 1.3 million subscribers is quite a milestone.  Bear in mind that she does not seem to have the backing of the traditional music industry.  So, viewers stay onto her – I would suppose – because her cover music interpretation is good, and she has a personality to back it up.

But what about a Tiffany Alvord concert?

After I bought a pair of tickets, my brother-in-law Eric who is also into YouTube music artists asked a very valid question, “Can she sing live?”

I had no idea.  Unlike another YouTube artist Bri or Kina Grannis whom I have heard them recorded live, I don’t recall Tiffany demonstrating her vocal ability without all the fancy processing tools.  Also, I was thinking.  Just how many of us in a tiny country like Singapore have heard of Tiffany Alvord, willing to fork out some money and time and watch her concert?

Turns out she has amassed quite a sizable fan base here.  Amazing.

Tiffany's concert was held in Singapore Conference Hall.

I took a picture of the stage before the show started.

The venue was Singapore Conference Hall.  Quite an unusual place for a pop concert.  More like an auditorium and it is located in the heart of central business district.  By my calculation, there is a seating capacity of 1,000.  Mostly filled.  Mostly teenagers.  The sound system is okay.  A young girl named Natalie Hiong opened the show.  Previously worked as an investment banker in UK, she is now pursuing her music career in Singapore.  She has the look, not too sure about the voice.  Or perhaps the monitor speakers setup was not right and she couldn’t hear herself.  In any case, it is hard to stand in between the audience and the main artist.  I lost focus after her first song.

When Tiffany emerged from the backstage, the crowd was somewhat lukewarm.  There was no live band.  She sang using a prerecorded music track, which was like a karaoke.  Very strange.  She sang OK, a bit of pitch problem here and there.  As the crowd got warmer, she got more relaxed.  The concert came alive when finally, a band arrived at the stage.  By the look of it, these were young local session artists.  The band was OK, certainly much better than having the soundtrack played in the beginning.  It is quite obvious that the 20 years old Tiffany is new to performance.  The band is new to her music too.  Together, they played a mix of her original music and her cover ones.  I didn’t see much connection between Tiffany and the band though.  Maybe the band was added in the last minute.  No idea.

At one point of her concert, Tiffany has invited someone called Marcus onto the stage for one song.  Apparently, he flew in from Europe, has helped in the design of her tour T-shirts.  That was neat.  The things she does to her fans with her singing and him sitting at a stool.  After Marcus returned to his seat, Tiffany realized that she has lost her guitar pick and she did not carry any extra.  So she asked the guitarist behind for a spare one.  One guy at the front row offered her a guitar pick and she has decided to use the one from her fan instead.  That was sweet.

And there was an intermission!  Amazing.  An intermission for a pop concert is definitely a first for Cynthia and I.  According to Tiffany, last evening was the longest performance for her.  Almost a two-hour show, that is pretty respectable.  Quite a few Western International stars only perform a one-hour long concert.  Then more singing using a prerecorded soundtrack.  One time, the sound engineer played the wrong track  that came with the vocal.  Oops.  She stopped and restarted.  Still the wrong one.  Uh oh.  Awkward.  She asked the crowd if it was OK for her to sing acoustic with her playing the guitar.  Of course that was OK.  Take 3 here we went.  Tiffany is not a guitar player.  But personally, I enjoy her singing with her acoustic guitar (not exactly hers as she has left her guitar in California, strangely so).  Much livelier that way.  Her song “Possibility” could have been a disaster, with the stop’s-and-go’s due to technical problems.  She managed to turn that around.  That impromptu acoustic version could easily be my favorite performance of the evening.

Then the band came out.  And then midway Tiffany switched back to karaoke mode with the band still on stage.  That was odd.  After a few more songs, she has finally dropped the karaoke for the remaining show.  The entire concert was filled with a lot of I-love-you’s from the audience.  A lot of I-love-you-too’s from Tiffany.  Her cover version of Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is probably the highlight of the concert.  Glad You Came was the last song of the set.  Or so she said.

But you know how concerts are like.  The audience are supposed to scream for encore.  And then the artist would return to the stage and perform another number or two.  When Tiffany and the band dived into the backstage, the venue was still dimmed signalling a high possibility that there was more.  All of a sudden, the few feeble scream of encore was drown by a series of loud stomping sound from left to right, towards the exit.  Singaporean audience was storming out of the venue like packs of zebras in Africa sensing a tiger nearby.  These people were in such an urgency as though they were running for their lives!  What’s up?!

Cynthia caught the band peeping from the backstage to see if they should make a return.  By then, more than three-quarter of the crowd has gone or were making a hasty exit.  The organizer has then decided to turn up the light and announce the end of the concert.  That was really odd, especially when you are new to Singapore.

Here in Singapore, we are known for two things.  Impatience and queue loving.  The whole crowd has migrated from the concert hall to the main lobby within minutes, queuing up and waiting for – I suppose – meet the artist session.  That got me thinking. Do the majority care about the music?  Or more about meeting the person behind YouTube?  Now, I would never know if my favorite Tiffany’s cover of Payphone – the video that got me subscribed to her – was indeed on the encore list.

Boy, don't we love to queue or what?

Very uniquely Singapore, people rather queue up to meet Tiffany after the show than to wait for an encore.

An interesting experience no doubt.  I am hoping that artists promoting their works without the music industry support can make it in this business.  Clearly, the music industry plays a role in promoting the music and making the live performance more polished and professional.  As I was watching Tiffany Alvord on stage, I could not help but to think of all the cover bands in the region that play in local pubs and even Hard Rock Cafe.  They can do cover songs so much better.  If only they have entered into the game of YouTube as well.

Maybe that was why I was wishing for a glass of beer as I watched Tiffany Alvord on stage.

Categories
Diary

Confession!

As the priest placed his hand over my head and said the Prayer of Absolution, I felt an intense sense of warmth from my lower back and up.  A feeling different from the heat and anxiety I have experienced prior and during my Confession.  There was something soothing and peaceful about that warmth originated from my lower back gradually spread across my body, as though I was engulfed in a divine fire.

A photograph taken from the entrance of Church of the Holy Spirit.

I was not born as a Catholic.  It could have been any religion.  I was brought up in a Catholic school, my wife Cynthia is a Catholic, so naturally, that is the path I have taken since the day of our marriage.  Of all the Catholic traditions, I have always tried to run away from Confession.  You may say: Look, Wilfrid, since you are a public blogger, confession should be in your DNA!

Well, it is not the same.

Easter is on its way.  To cater for the sudden surge in demand for confession, once a week from now till Easter, there are mass confession sessions held across the island.  I have not attended a mass confession session before.  Cynthia only gave me two options: this week or next.  I picked this week out of the two.

We have not visited Church of the Holy Spirit for years, although we frequent the mall from opposite the street.  In my mind, thanks to all the Hollywood movies, I thought confession always involves I entering a booth whereby the priest cannot see me.  I can pour my heart out on the sins I have committed in total privacy.  In a mass confession session like today’s, it is nothing like that.

The interior light was dimmed.  There was a quietness inside the Church except for the humming sound of the air conditioners (thank God for that as you will see why later).  Instead of confession booths, four priests were seated at the far corners of the Church.  Two priests were seated near the alter.  And another two inside the two brightly lit rooms.  Confession was to be done in the open!  I was in shock.  We were supposed to queue up and take turn to sit close to the priests and whisper clearly and briefly the sins we have committed against God.  As I was queuing to one of the priests near the alter, I was thinking: Shall I make a generic confession like I should have attended Mass every week but I didn’t?  Or shall I make an honest confession?

At the last minute, I have decided to make an honest confession.

Of course I was in shame, feeling an uncomfortable heat on my face as I was hit by anxiety and remorse.  The priest asked a few questions and offered some pointers, which I am thankful for.  As he rested his hand above my head and granted me the absolution, this divine warmth I have mentioned in the beginning of this post was nothing I have felt before.  Such comfort and peace and a touch of divinity – I am glad that I did not skip the session, like I did many times in the past.

As we were leaving the Church feeling happy and lifted, I could not help but to ponder: Is there a better way to prepare for my next confession?  There are many answers to this question, I am sure.  But this one is mine, and I am happy to give it a try.

Confession to me is a checkpoint to evaluate how far I have deviated from God and the Church’s teaching.  If I am unable to think of something substantial and concrete to confess, that could mean either I am a saint or I have no clear visibility on where my reference path should be.  I am inclined to think that it is the latter rather than the former.

Hence, the key to making a good confession regularly is to be clear on our right path and to constantly evaluate ourselves against that reference point.  There are many ways to get there, such as through prayers and Bible reading.  A more effective way could be to attend Mass regularly.  During the moment of silence after each reading, reflect upon the passage.  Pay attention to the priest’s sermon.  Internalize the teaching and reflect upon what we have failed to do, how we can do better.  Once we are aware of the deviations and our trespasses, that should make our next confession more fruitful and substantial.

Act of Contrition: Oh my God, I am sorry and beg pardon for all my sins, and detest them above all things, because they deserve your dreadful punishments, because they have crucified my loving Savior Jesus Christ, and, most of all, because they offend your infinite goodness; and I firmly resolve, by the help of your grace, never to offend you again, and carefully to avoid the occasions of sin.  Amen.

Categories
For the Geeks

Google Nexus 4 – A Hands-On Experience

I have retired from the scene of wireless phone review.  But I could not resist from writing a little entry about my new Nexus 4.  I was not able to procure one last November when the phone was first launched.  Within 30 minutes of release, the phone was sold out.  It appears that this iteration of Nexus is a lot more popular than the previous versions.  Hence, either or both LG and Google have underestimated its demand.  Whichever the story is, Google has started taking orders since end of January.  That was when I bought mine.

I have not been so excited about a phone for a long time!

What is Nexus 4?

It is essentially a Google reference phone, built by LG.  It is a Android phone sold directly via Google Play.  As of today, there are two versions.  The 8GB version is priced at US$299 while the 16GB version US$349.

Let’s Talk About Its Price

It is hard not to start with its price.  Starting from US$299 without contract, it sounds almost like a steal.  Nexus 4 may be affordable, but it is not a cheap phone.  I suppose when you take away heavy marketing budget, the middleman, and the need for inventory (just-in-time manufacturing), a phone does not have to be that expensive.  Nexus’s affordable price is no doubt one of its selling points.

Form Factor

You have to hold a Nexus 4 to truly appreciate its beauty.  A 4.7″ touchscreen built using Corning Gorilla Glass 2 curves nicely towards the edge of the phone.  There is a silver rim wrapped around the phone followed by a non-slip surface that forms the edge of Nexus 4.  At the back is another piece of glass.  Some find the back glass too slippery.  I have applied a non-slip protective film on it (Xtremeguard).  So it feels just right.  Strongly recommend you to do the same!  The phone is slim, relatively light.  It fits well on my palm.  Nexus 4’s touchscreen has a ~318 ppi pixel density.  That is a pretty good resolution.

On the flip side, Nexus 4 does feel fragile.  It wouldn’t survive a drop test.  So, handle with care.  Also, the color of the screen seems a bit off.  For a start, the white doesn’t look that white.    But like all things in life.  After you get used to the color, it should not bother you that much.

Pure Android Platform

One challenge of the Android platform is that most Android phones do have not the latest operating system installed.  It’s a pity.  Getting a Nexus 4 means that you will have the latest OS whenever Google makes an update.  To me, that is one huge advantage.  One of the reasons why I bought the phone.

Stock OS is great, if you accept it the way it is.  It does not come with all the bloatwares that your telco would have installed for you (yay to no Facebook app!).  But it also does not have all the bells and whistles like the apps that Samsung has developed for their phones.  I am still unable to set the ringtone using one of the songs in my phone.  Nor I am able to change the alarm tone to a song.  Besides these, I have no complain.

It is Fast

Nexus 4 comes with a Quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU.  The phone feels responsive.  Only time will tell if it remains so as technology always pushes the boundary.

Card Slot?

Nexus 4 does not have a card slot to extend the storage.  If you manage to buy Nexus 4 directly from Google Play, I would assume that you can upload up to 20,000 songs to Google’s cloud.  I don’t store my music library in my phone.  I stream it online.  Hence, 16GB is sufficient to me.  For now.

What About The Battery?

Nexus 4’s battery life is likely the most discussed topic.  Before we talk about its battery performance, perhaps what we should do is to take a step back and take stock of the things we do with our phones these days.  To date, I stream music over the air.  I play Ingress, which is very demanding on battery life.  With such a pretty screen, I tend to surf the Internet more often.  And there are YouTube, Google+, and Google Now.  The demand on battery is only getting higher and higher.

Just how good or terrible is Nexus 4’s battery performance?

On heavy usage, I managed to squeeze 7 hours out of the phone.  I wouldn’t say that is great.  Nor bad.  It is average, just as expected.

In Summary

Nexus 4 is a decent phone with a decent price.  I am happy with my purchase.

Categories
Diary

Observing Bethany

It is rather challenging to buy fresh food from the local supermarkets during Chinese New Year Eve.  Hence, I prefer to do my grocery shopping two days before.  The challenge to me this year was that work has been hectic.  We are ‘encouraged’ to put in extra hours at work.  It is hard to explain to my non-Chinese colleagues – which is the majority with I being the only Chinese – the gravity of the situation.  Without fresh food, there is no reunion dinner.  How shall I delicately explain the importance of family members getting together for a reunion dinner?  That I am the eldest and hence, dinner would take place at my home?  That I prefer cooking to dinning out?  On Thursday, I simplified the entire tradition for my non-Chinese colleagues with six words: I need to buy chicken tonight.  Most of them got it, though some might have thought that I was joking.

Chinese New Year Eve was on Saturday.  But my sister and I have decided to celebrate it on Friday so that she could celebrate the actual day with her in-laws.  Fine by me.  Except, I have to yet again explain to my non-Chinese colleagues that burning midnight oil on Friday was not an option.  Because: I need to cook chicken tonight.

This is Bethany!

After our reunion dinner, my niece Bethany all of a sudden took my phone and wanted to take some self-portraits.  I tried to explain that this is a Sony phone.  There is no front camera.  She sort of understood and asked me to take pictures of her instead.  So I did.  Picture frame and special effect are added to the picture thanks to Cynthia’s Samsung Note II LTE and her beloved apps Paper Artist and Cool Frames.  Cynthia still loves her phone dearly, after months of having it.

It was less than a month ago when I hang out with my niece Bethany, when she asked me not to eat her family.  Kids are the most wondrous beings on Earth.  She likes to play with my Indonesian drum (which she dropped, and cried, and did not play that evening).  And she likes to play with my guitar.  The first time she played with my guitar, she yanked the strings really hard.  I was more worried about  Bethany being hit by the snapping of a string more than the hassle of replacing a broken one.  A month ago, she would strum it softly knowing that I disapprove such harsh treatment of my beloved guitar.  Last Friday, she would pluck the string with the right force, which is pretty amazing because she picked it up on her own.

Besides guitar playing, she has made slight progress on my F1 2012 video game on PS3.  Mind you, Bethany is only 3-year-old.  Her hands are way too small to handle a controller.  Compare to a month ago, now she seems to understand how the accelerator works.  She definitely knows how to reverse the car because she does it all the time.  Not sure why.  Perhaps she loves to see my shocked reaction.  She also seems to understand steering, although she still can’t quite grasp the technique of acceleration and steering at the same time.  When she is stuck (like hitting the walls), she would pass the controller back to me and ask me to get the car back on track.  Previously, she did not have such awareness.

What is interesting to observe is that she keeps on thinking that pushing the joystick up is to move forward.  And that she would turn the controller in mid-air like a steering wheel hoping that the car turns the same way she does.  I have not tried Nintendo Wii.  Looking at how Bethany intuitively interacts with the game, I think the simplistic design of the Wii motion sensor controller could well be a winner.  Too bad.  When Wii first came out, it was out of stock for like a year or so.  By the time the stock was available, all interest was lost.  Fortunately, I don’t have to wait that long for my Nexus 4 to arrive.  That’s another story for another day.

Oh, one more observation to share.  Bethany loves to play with my phone.  But my Sony phone does not have many interesting apps or games (thanks to the super low memory).  There is a pinball game that she enjoys playing.  A month ago, she would think that the ball falling off the drain was a good thing.  Now, she understands that it may not be such a good idea.  She still has’t quite got the technique yet.  I am sure she will get it in no time.

Categories
Diary

Moon Tower: A Builder, A Girl, And A Mysterious White Rabbit – A Doodle

Once upon a time, I loved to doodle.  That was two years ago.  Surprisingly, the pen I have bought for this very purpose still works.  It is a surprise because these sort of pens do dry out over time.  On that thought, I shall stock up more of this sort the next time I hit town.

One doodle of mine!

The title of this doodle – Moon Tower: A Builder, A Girl, And A Mysterious White Rabbit – is the same as the story I wrote one entry before this one.  If you have read the story, you should be able to interpret this doodle with little difficulty.

Drawing is therapeutic.  This evening, I needed just that.  So exhausted after a long, long day at work, I did not even have the energy for active entertainment like playing video games or socializing through Google+.  I picked up my pen, some sketch papers, and started doodling.

Like how the story was crafting, I was about to give up on the initial concept after the first attempt.  I started with the tower.  It was too structured.  Too boring.  Perhaps my drawing is a reflection of my life, which in my case, is currently dominated by work.  On my second attempt, I have refocused the drawing around the three main characters.  And then developed the rest from the main theme, with an abstract touch.  This doodle was initially drawn in landscape orientation, on a A3 paper.  As I added more contextual materials onto the painting, I feel that it is best to be viewed in portrait.  Of course, now the northern side of the island appears on the bottom and hence, looks like the south instead.  That is rather unfortunate.  But I suppose that is one way to break the structure eh?

Categories
Diary

Spending Time With Elders At Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park

I have always enjoyed participating in the corporate volunteering programs.  It gives a little extra meaning to what I do for a living.  Year 2011, I have done weeding in one of the islands.  Boy, that was laborious.  Year 2012, I have done art crafting with the children in a hospital.  I hope by now, they have fully recovered and who knows, I might have tickled the kids’ artistic bones a little.  This year, I have signed up for a learning trail excursion with the elders from a senior citizen center.  A walk in the newly renovated Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park

I am pretty surprised how well the mobile app Snapseed works on this picture.

I have been driving pass Bishan AMK Park for years as it is located quite near to my home.  It was not until a 2010 blogger event that brought me to this park.  Soon after, the park was closed for years.  What was used to be a canal has now been transformed into a 2.7 km long meandering river integrated with the park.  The park looks clean and beautiful, sustaining a healthy mixed of flora and fauna.  During my visit, the water level was low.  Besides a few gardeners working along the river, there were large white birds “playing” in the water.

The elderly group has a good mix of different cultural background.  And the eldest was a 104 years old lady.  Initially I was concerned if my lack of Mandarin speaking skill would be a burden.  Fortunately, my Cantonese sufficed.  Some of my colleagues do not speak the local languages.  So they helped out with photograph taking, or carrying of umbrellas.

There is a fast food restaurant in the middle of the park.  Probably not the healthiest choice for the elders.  But it is a convenient location.  There is a patio and I got to serve food, together with my colleagues.  Quite possibly the most relaxing and enjoyable volunteering event I have participated thus far.  The elders appeared to be happy.  I took some pictures in the park with my wireless phone.  The one above has surprised me a little.  Snapseed application has done a great job in making the picture pops.  But what delights me most is how well the perspective holds.  It could only be a tinny miracle.

Categories
Photography

Korea Holiday Photo Albums – A Recap Thus Far

Lately I have been busy processing the photographs taken during our recent trip to Korea in a lightning speed.  Too much to do, too little time.  Procrastination weights me down, eventually depresses me much.  So I wish to get it done, and move onto the next thing in life.

Museum of Sex and Health

Google+ has some unspoken guidelines when it comes to posting of pictures.  Images that show female nipples and human genitals including implied sex – be it as vanilla or oral or whatever – are out of the question.  What about paintings?  I was told that Origin of the World by French artist Gustave Courbet is also not allowed due to – I believe – realism.  But what about sex related sculptures?

Not wanting to risk getting my Google+ account banned, I have hosted the Museum of Sex and Health album and Jeju Loveland album back in my website.  Feel free to click onto the links for viewing.  I really love some of these local art pieces.  Something seldom to be seen here in Singapore for sure.

When it comes to holiday itinerary, Cynthia and I are pretty much in sync.  We are not into shopping.  We don’t mind a bit of walking and a little bit of hardship, so long as we have plenty of breaks with food and drink in between.  And, we love to visit the museums.

Leeum

There is a Samsung Museum of Art called Leeum in Seoul.  We attempted to visit it on the day we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace.  But Leeum was closed on Monday.  On our second attempt, it was snowing in Seoul.  It was quite a challenge to walk up the slippery slope.  But we made it up and down safe.  Photo albums for these two locations can be found by clicking onto the two links above.

I have no idea how Cynthia has found a free bus ride to Jeonju.  She registered our tickets online, prior to our trip.  Bravo!  It took three hours to travel from Seoul to Jeonju – a UNESCO heritage site.  Thankfully, we had some decent weather for a good half of the day.

Talking about UNESCO sites, we have visited two in Jeju – namely Seongsan Sunrise Peak and Manjanggul Cave.  Both locations are unique and worth visiting.  One above ground, another underneath.  Don’t miss that photo album too.

The most unique museum we have visited in Korea has got to be Museum of Teddy Bear.  You can imagine my reaction when Cynthia first suggested and later insisted that we shall visit a museum full of teddy bears.  I have got a lot of eyes rolling reaction whenever I mentioned this to my guy friends.

Interestingly and surprisingly, Museum of Teddy Bear is anything but childish or silly.  It is a one of the most popular tourist spots in Jeju Island.

When God Created Teddy Bear

I still have quite a few more photo albums for sharing, photographs from our Korea trip yet to be processed.  As of now, this is what I have.  If the links above you confuse you, check out my photograph page for a more organized view.

Categories
Photography

Jeju Loveland Photo Album

First, wishing all my readers a Happy 2013.  May you be blessed with all the joy and happiness life has to offer.  Time flies.  And we are one year wiser.  It is good to do some self-reflection on what we have accomplished last year and what our plans are this year.

I wish I could have spent more time with my website.  But the line between blogging and social networking in Google+ is blurring, as some pioneers have predicted.  The outlook of my website this year would remain as a place for higher quality and more lengthy writing while Google+ is an excellent place to incubate new concepts and ideas, to meet new friends who share common passions.

Love, from Jeju Loveland

It is a pure coincidence that I am featuring photographs of a sex theme park on a New Year Day.  You may have noticed that my photographs are now published at Google+ instead of here in my website.  Well, it saves disk space and the interaction is a lot richer over there.  However, not wanting to run the risk of getting my Google+ account suspended due to explicit contents, I am publishing this album here.

  • Click here to view Jeju Loveland Photo Album (52 pictures with captions).  Warning: explicit contents.

For those who are new to Jeju Loveland, it is a sculpture / theme park based on sensuality and eroticism.  Jeju Island has long been a popular honeymoon location for the Koreans.  It is said that in the older days, after the Korean War, arranged marriage was the norm.  The island provided sex education for the then honeymooners, and to break the ice so as to speak.

When Cynthia and I visited Jeju Loveland, we thought the experience would be all weird and embarrassing.  In contrary, the theme park is full of giggle and laughter.  People of all ages (above 18 of course) seem to enjoy the humor side of the sculptures.  We do too.

PS. More photographs from our Korea Trip can be found in this link.

Categories
For the Geeks

A Journey From All-Assist To No-Assist – F1 2012 Video Game Guide

I love Formula One the sport.  And I love F1 2012 the video game.  I don’t think there exists another road racing game that has a speed as fast as a F1 simulation.  Recently, I have crossed the 100 hours play time.  One friend asked me, “What do you get out of this game with so much time put in?  Do you grind for experience points or currency to unlock faster cars?”  He is from a FPS and MMO background whereby unlocking gears is part of the game.  I chuckled and replied, “Not at all.  F1 is a skill game.  The only thing you need to unlock is your talent in playing a racing game”.

What a lovely racing game!

I am not a hardcore racer.  Fortunately, with the assist features this video game has offered, F1 2012 is accessible even to the most casual racer.  All-assist function is good.  It makes the game a lot less frustrating for some and the game play emphasizes on steering, a little bit of braking, sticking to the racing line, and making the most out of DRS and KERS technologies.  On top of that, it is a good introduction to the format of a F1 race.  The practice and qualifying sessions, yellow flag, pit stop, tire wear management, tire choices, penalty system, championship point system, racing rules, and more.

All-assist is good.  But as one gains proficiency on racing with the assist features, one may crave for deeper challenges.  F1 2012 offers a great depth to just that.  Turning off the assist features one by one rewards achievements or trophies, much faster lap time, predictability, and general satisfaction.

We love to stay in our comfort zone.  But if you decide to have a little adventure to see how far you can go with no-assist, I hope this article may inspire.

#1 Turn Off Brake Assist

Brake assist is the number one pace killer.  That is true.  By turning this one feature off, I have gained 3 to 5 seconds per lap.

Brake assist works best when you stick to the racing line accurately.  The moment you deviate from the racing line, brake assist kicks in.  This feature also slows down the car cautiously during corning.  It kills pace.

Turning off brake assist requires you to observe the brake markers on the side.  Depending on the turns, some have markers all the way from 400 meter ahead of the turn.  Finding the correct braking point for each turn (and each circuit) is important.  You may start with the very first sign you see.  And if you over brake, you may adjust accordingly.

Don’t over train on this part of the journey.  Once you are comfortable with braking function for a couple of different circuits, it is time to progress to the next one.

#2 Turn Off ABS and Traction Control

Personally, I feel ABS and TC (traction control) go hands-in-hands.  Allow me to provide a bit of background here.

ABS, like in road car technology, helps to prevent wheel locking in a heavy braking situation.  In F1 2012 in-game racing, ABS increases braking distance and stop front wheels from locking.  Locked wheels have no grip and it makes the braking non-effective.

TC helps to prevent rear wheels spinning.  Rear wheels spin when the engine rev exceeds what the wheel’s grip can handle.  This happens in a couple of places: starting grid, during turning (such as exiting a corner too aggressively), and wet weather condition.  When rear wheels spin, the car loses control.

Because ABS increases braking distance and TC reduces aggressiveness on gear shifting, turning them off improves lap time.  I can decrease the lap time for up to 2 seconds by turning these off, which is substantial, when added onto the no-brake assist gain.

To drive without ABS and TC, you have to be aware of grip condition.  Also bear in mind that down force is proportional to the square of speed.  Hence, as your car slows down, you have to gradually release the brake pressure or else suffer front wheels lock-up.  As you accelerate out of a corner, you may need to be gentle with the throttle or else suffer rear wheels lock-up.

Again, don’t over train on this setting.

#3 Use Manual Gearbox

Losing that auto gearbox, believe it or not, is not as bad as it sounds.  If you are using a console controller, you may wish to remap the DRS button (on top) to gear-up button (on bottom).  The default setup is neither comfortable to the hand nor intuitive.

Using manual gearbox – in some circuits – may gain lap time.  Especially places like S-Curves in Japan, sector 3 of Korea, and turn 3 through 7 in USA whereby engine braking is more effective than wheel braking, less frustrating than the auto gear hunting that goes up and down through a turn.  In other circuits, I may struggle matching my previous best lap records.  That is OK because manual gearbox provides better predictability in corning speed. Also, once you go manual, you won’t go back to auto.

The best way to learn how to work that manual gearbox is to watch how F1 professional racers lap a circuit on YouTube.  The strategies are as follows.

For down shifting from say a long straight at 7th gear, first, apply brake at the correct braking point.  After a second, quickly drop down 3 gears to 4th.  As you approach the apex, further drop down the gear to 3rd while releasing the brake.  For sharp corners, drop the gear to 2nd, and if need to, 1st.  Observe any sign of wheel lockup so as to further adjust the brake release timing.

For up shifting, the best time is when the engine hits the rev limiter (purple).  Holding the gear for too long kills speed.  However, you may notice shifting the gear up at high rev during corner exit may cause rear wheel spin (with no TC).  Hence in this case, you have to be gentle with the throttle.  Or shift gear a little bit earlier to keep the engine rev at a manageable state.  It is also a good lesson on why you have to use every inch of the circuit in opening up the exit.  Because the sharper the turning, the harder for you to be aggressive.

Of course, during wet weather condition, you have to watch out for engine rev.

By turning off brake assist, ABC, TC, and gear assist, it is time to really learn each and every of the 20 F1 circuits.  Use the brake markers and banners as braking points.  Find out the best gear choice for each chicane.  This is the most rewarding journey for me.

One area that needs to address is race start.  It is not easy without traction control.  The trick is that before the 5-light goes out, gently hold the throttle to green zone.  As you see the car moves forward, step onto the throttle.  Hold 1st gear till the speed is beyond 90 kph.  Then shift gears up as and when the rev limiter hits the purple zone.  Put in KERS if need to.

#4 Turn Off Racing Line

This is a person choice, more for immersion.  I don’t believe that turning off racing line would greatly help with lap time.  Especially when it is raining cats and dogs on track and visibility is terrible.

For some circuits like Brazil, I am comfortable in turning off the racing line.  For others, I am still learning my way.  Turning off racing line also forces you to really learn the track, and perhaps find a better racing line than the game suggests.

#5 More Challenges Ahead

If you are into beating lap time, i.e. time trial mode, you can explore the detail car setup feature for each track and fine tune your vehicle.  If you are into racing, i.e. career or quick race, you can turn on full damage simulation (and have a chance to see safety car!) and turn off the flash point system.  That is to say, mistakes can cost a great deal.  This game does not have hardcore mode.  You may even discipline yourself not to use the race restart function and take what it comes.

That is part of F1 racing.

PS. First season of my amateur F1 racing career can be found here.  Next season, I am planning to play with no-assist.