Beach Boy

Last Saturday, I decided to bring the whole family out. Usually, its my wife, our litle boy and I or my wife, Eddie, Casey and I or my wife, our little boy and our domestic help. I was feeling a little down last week and thought getting everyone out of the house for some fresh air would be fun and would do me some good. So, we did. I can't believe that we managed to squeeze my wife, Dev, our domestic help, Eddie, Casey and I into our sports sedan.

At least I now understand why sports cars are not for family men. *wink*

Where did we go? To the beach at East Coast Park. We've regularly brought Dev to the beach when he was comfortably resting in his Mummy's tummy but not after. So, we thought it would be the best place to go.

We got there at about 4:30 pm and the place was packed. We took a walk and after about 20 minutes, found ourselves at the jetty. We walked on to the jetty and stopped at a nice cool location. Dev was overwhelmed at the sight of the sea. As the waves hit the shores, he smiled and suddenly found the need to "wave" back!

Casey was extremely well-behaved but not Eddie. A little girl, about 3 - 4 years old, saw him and decided to pull her Daddy along to meet the cute small white and brown "puppy". As she approached, Eddie suddely barked loudly at her, sending her running back to Daddy. My wife had to apologise as I voiced my disapproval with Eddie. "Bad dog!", something that works wonders at home, fell on deaf (and pointy) ears. Eddie was more interested in luring people to him with his charming good looks and then scaring them away.

We ended the evening by walking to a nearby food centre where I went to all my usual favourites and ordered their specials to go. We would have liked to stay on for dinner there but alas, dogs are not allowed in food establishments - even the open air ones like the food centre at East Coast Park.

Here are some pictures.

Eddie - Waiting for his next victim

The Beach - At East Coast Park

Hmmm... wonder where we'll find ourselves this weekend. Have a great week ahead!

The Hunt For Mocca E90

While people in New York and San Francisco were queueing to get their hands on the "Jesus phone", I was on a hunt for a gadget that was due to be launched at 9 am on the very last day of June in Singapore. I've waited eagerly for this device to arrive since it was announced and by hook or crook, I was going to get my hands on one on launch day!

Not having had much sleep since I worked the night before, I woke up bright and early (out of excitement and anticipation) to grab my "Moses" phone. Why "Moses" phone? You'll find out soon enough.

After visiting the temple, something my wife and I do every Saturday, we made our way down to one of the major mobile phone outlets in Orchard Road to pick up the Nokia E90 (Mocca - colour). By the time we got there in the early part of the afternoon, there was already a crowd. "They're probably getting the regular phones. Not many will go for such a high-end business phone, dear", my wife comforted me after noticing the nervous look on my face. We got to the customer service counter and the minute I opened my mouth and said "E90", "Sold out this morning already! New stocks in 2 weeks only!", came the reply. My heart sank dragging my smile and spirit down with it.

"Lets try the other outlets around here. There's a Nokia retailer across the road", my wife tried to cheer me up. We made our way across to the other shopping centre via the underpass. Of course, it was "sold out" when we got there! I couldn't believe my luck, or the lack of.

"We're going to United Square later to get some toys for Dev, right? Lets try the shops there", my wife said, trying to remain positive. But no matter how hard she tried, even she was losing hope. Anyway, I called a shop there that I knew. "Yes, sir. We have stock.". That missing smile returned to my face.

Not wanting to waste anymore time in Orchard Road, we got to our car and I did what is equivalent to a Formula One type lap to United Square - some 20 odd minutes away. I could just imagine that tech-filled gadget being in the palm of my hand in just a few short minutes away. I stepped into the shop and proudly ask "I would like to buy the E90". "Just sold out, sir!", came the shop assistant's response. My mind screamed "Why God, why?"

So, I officially gave up. No E90 today, I guess. We went to get Dev's toys at a Toys 'R' Us sale and decided to head to do some grocery shopping at a shopping mall just a 5 minute walk from our home.

When we got there, we headed straight to the supermarket but just before entering, my wife remembered a shop selling mobile phones upstairs. "I'll bet you $100 they don't have stock of the E90", I told my wife. She smiled weakly without saying a word. I think she was drained from the Amazing Race like island-wide hunt for this elusive device.

We walked into the crowded shop close to 7 pm and approached a nervous looking sales promoter standing at the doorway. I asked limply "Do you happen to have stock of the new E90?". "Yes, sir. Stocks just in!" My head turned quickly to my wife in disbelief. She was smiling widely. So, I didn't hear him wrongly! I went over to the counter and asked again nervously, afraid that this young man might have mistaken the model I was asking for. "Yes, let me get it for you." Like a new alkaline battery just popped in, I sprung back to life.

The salesman opened an insignificant looking cupboard in the corner and he turned to ask "Red or Mocca?". "Mocca!", I shouted back, giving him a concurrent thumbs-up as I caught a whiff of what coincidently appeared to be brewed coffee coming from the coffee outlet one floor down. Out from that cupboard came a cling-wrapped box with white bold letters that said "Nokia E90 Communicator".




Twenty minutes and slightly over a thousand Singapore dollars later, I was the proud owner of the E90. As I write this, it is sitting beside me like an anxious little puppy waiting to show off what it can do. Needless to say, I was already impressed with its specifications when Nokia announced it was making the device.

Despite the possibility and eventual reality of the huge expenditure on the part of her gadget-obsessed husband, my wife was very supportive of what was important to me. That meant more to me than actually getting the device. Thank you, dear!

And the "Moses" reference? Notice how the device parts in the middle? *wink*

Hope you had as much fun over the weekend as I did.

Welcome The Unwelcomed

My wife and I have a "visitor" to our home at least two Sundays in a month. He shows up unannounced and it doesn't matter if we already have guests or were planning to catch up on a TV series we've recorded during the busy work-week. He'll just sit there till we're done, which can be very uncomfortable. So, we shelve what we wanted to do just to keep him entertained.

About two months ago, my wife had an old classmate over for lunch. She brought her two young boys (who were excited about meeting Eddie and Casey) as well as her husband, who was an absolute pleasure to chat with. Then, about an hour into what was a delightful afternoon, the knock on the door came. Our usual "visitor" came in and plonked himself down on the sofa. I think he made our friends uncomfortable and they "decided" it was time for them to go.

No matter how hard we've tried to tell him without hurting his feelings, he hasn't got the message.

As such, I found it impossible to contain my excitement when I found this welcome (or otherwise) mat. Turn it one way and it bids a warm "Come In". For the unwelcomed, flip it around and it bluntly says "Go Away". Vist this aptly named website for more details.

Since subtlety has not worked, I think purchasing one would be classified as an investment. I am sure my wife would agree. Still, I worry he'll be none the wiser. *sigh*

Firewall

More gadget posts? No, this is not. I get the hint. *wink*

This one's on a movie my wife and I caught on DVD on Saturday night. It's a movie from early this year called "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford as a Vice President of systems security in a large bank.

Jack Stansfield's (Ford) family is held hostage and in exchange for their release, Jack is required to hack into his bank's computers and transfer millions of dollars into the captors offshore bank accounts. For a movie buff like me, I found the story highly predictable because it reeks elements from Air Force One (also starring Ford), Ransom (starrring Mel Gibson) and Hostage (starring Bruce Willis).

There was a little McGuyver moment when Jack took the image scanner part of his fax machine and attached it to his daughter's iPod to 'scan' account numbers off a computer screen. Being a tech-head, I know full well that this was impossibe without the proper circuitry in-between the scanning device and the iPod. I tried hard to explain this to my dear wife but I think she was more impressed that Jack came up with the concept than with my technical knowledge. Oh well....

Overall, a watchable movie but I'll bet one would be even more in tune with the story if they didn't bother with technical intracacies - like me. Definitely not for hardcore techie / geeks.

And if anyone wants to know what a firewall is, read here. Or feel free to ask a question via comments!

Hope you guys had a good weekend!

Bulb Technology

First and foremost, a disclaimer. I am not taking shots at women or implying that men are smarter. On the contrary, I think the reverse is true. However, our encounter with a sales girl last weekend left my wife and I perplexed. It was very reminiscent of a beauty pageant on TV some years ago when, during a question and answer segment, the host asked a contestant if she'd rather have her makeup kit or her mobile phone with her if she was stranded in a jungle. "Mobile phone!", came her smart answer. "Why?", the host prodded. "Because I can take it apart and send out radiation so that the rescuers can find me", she said with a confident smile. I guess dialling for help was far too difficult under those conditions.

Anyway, back to our encounter....

We chanced upon a table-top water feature (a fountain, basically) while out shopping and my wife thought it would look fabulous in our study room. So, we decided to spring for it. The petite girl who attended to us was unable to get the new fountain out of its box for us to inspect. Seeing her struggle, I told her not to trouble herself and if it was faulty, we would bring it back. I then studied the same unit they had on display to see if there was any assembly required. The following was our conversation.

Me : The bulb looks unique. Is it readily available?
Sales Girl : Not sure but we can order for you also.
Me : That means I'd have to come all the way back here just for a bulb?
Sales Girl : Well sir, you don't have to worry. The bulb uses electricity so you don't have to replace it at all.
Wife (whispering to me) : Was she a beauty pageant contestant?

*sigh*

Save Room For Cool Grooves

As part of our very predictable weekend, my wife and I head out to town to do a little shopping - groceries, mostly - and I'd usually end up at some CD store or other blowing away hard-earned money on discs. Last weekend was no exception. One of the two albums I picked up was this one from John Legend.

I had only heard one track, Save Room, on MTV and thought it sounded really good. But to buy an entire album for just one song? I've done it a thousand times before (which explains the thousand CDs I own) so why should this be any different? I decided to be 'responsible' and give the album a listen before I actually put down good money for it.

I listened... and I was hooked immediately. If you enjoy R&B and jazz, this is a must-have. Tracks I really enjoyed are Each Day Gets Better, Maxine, Another Again, Where Did My Baby Go, Again and Save Room, of course. Some of these tracks have a real retro feel - you know, the good kind.

Currently playing on my MP3 player as I write this is Where Did My Baby Go.

More on the man here.

Shop Till You...Smile!

Last weekend, my wife had a few of her friends over and needless to say, a house filled with women is really not a place for a guy like me to be. I had a couple of errands to run and took that opportunity to skip out to town.

While shopping at one of our gadget malls, I texted an old friend from school and coincidently, he was nearby. We met for a cup of tea to chat about the good ol' days as well as to talk about what we love most - gadgets. It was a pity he was rushing off to see his mom, who was not well, or we would have chatted till the cows came home. And just as he was leaving, I ran into a close relative of mine. Without going into details, the meeting saddened me a great deal even though I was glad to see him. Anyway, I wish him well even though the path he is on in life is very worrying.

I still had a lot of errands to run and one of which was to get a birthday gift for a former colleague / good friend. Shopping for him was tough. "What do you get for a man who has everything?", was the question of the day. On top of that, the chance meeting with my relative was weighing heavily on my mind. So, for a long while, I was roaming the malls aimlessly until I came across a small, thumb-drive looking device in the window. It was labelled "Sony" and that was enough to peak my curiousity. I walked in and was told that it was an MP3 player. I asked to see it. "No big deal. Apple has the iPod Shuffle so Sony is just a copy-cat", the smart-aleck voice in my head went - until it was demo'ed to me.

This little thing, no bigger than my thumb (disclaimer : I have a big thumb!) played MP3 and AAC files, stored data, had a built-in radio, a sports timer for running or cycling and even supported playlists. It had a OLED display which was crisp and showed you clearly what was playing or the radio station it was on. And if all this was not enough, a 3 minute charge on this baby allowed you to run it for a full 3 hours! My unwavering integrity was quickly relocating to a new camp. "Beat that, Apple!", went that voice in my head.

I suddenly found myself smiling at this little device. I knew that my friend would love it as much as I did. So, I got it - two of it, to be precise.

Well, it made me smile, didn't it?