Hong Kong
I love Hong Kong. I love the food in there, I love the vibe there. And I had the most amazing challenge there — I had to count 10,000 fortune cookies and teams had to go through their pile of 1000 each to find their clue. The not fun part was cleaning up afterwards, and having only a broom to sweep the crumbs off the floor!
I was starving here and about to faint.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Unlike the amount of time I spent in Indonesia, I was in and out of Vietnam quite quickly and only was at my one location. Lam Son Square. We had heaps of girls walking around in their ao dais and wearing nom las. It was massive to produce, but very pretty.
I’ve been to HCMC before, because my step-father works in Vietnam. What I liked about this trip is that it has reacquainted me with pho, and I’ve grown to like it a little more.
Gili Trawangan, Indonesia
This kicks off a series of entries documenting the countries I travelled to during The Amazing Race Australia Season 1. This was done a year ago and it has already finished its run on Channel 7 in Australia. And I’ve only just caught up on uploading the photos and actually penning this down (and typing all these entries at one go and have them scheduled to automatically update). I went to very exciting places, which I will put up country by country.
For the gear heads, I shot mainly with my Canon 5DMKII with my 35mm f2 lens (first time ever choosing to shoot with just one prime lens only). The photos in 3:2 format were shot on my Canon Ixus 100.
First up, we went to Lombok and Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. I’ve never been to either before, and was looking forward to it because I heard a lot about the Gili islands being very much like paradise. To get to Gili, you can go via Lombok, grab land transport to the pier, and take a boat across. You can access it via Bali too, but it’s a longer boat ride (and via speedboat, I’m assuming – go do your research!).
To be honest, because of it’s hype, I was expecting to be transported to a different world altogether and maybe my idea of paradise is very different from others, and this is probably why — it’s a hub for avid divers. Most people who are there go for the diving, or learn to dive. You have some foreigners living there too, earning their keep as diving instructors. It has a very hippie vibe and people there are very happy with living simply, doing what they love and just living life in the moment. I like the lifestyle principles very much, I’m just not a fan of diving.
Transportation on the island is only via horse carts, colloquially known as cidomos. And they only go in one direction around the island. Be careful of the puddles there, because you never know if it is sea water or horse piss.
Game testing
Exchange Email on BlackBerry
I interrupt regular mummy programming with this tech public service announcement. I want to list this down for posterity because I was having so much trouble trying to find the fix on the internet, and everything was written in such technical mumbo jumbo that it was pretty hard to understand. Each support ticket was something like, “K2049: The delivery packet does not fit the electrons but has no algorithm that fits in the 01402×43.” Oh, BlackBerry! I do love thee so much, but can you speak in layman terms, please?
Anyway, back to the problem.
I upgraded the Torch to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 a couple of months back. I installed my work Exchange email via the email set-up on the BlackBerry. There were no special steps required to install it as an Exchange email account, so I assumed that the tech gurus who worked the backend had it working on automatic mode.
Suddenly, I started experiencing this weird problem of receiving multiple copies of the same email on my BlackBerry, but all was normal on other devices. So if I got an email from A, after I respond, I will receive another copy of A’s email. And it multiples if the email thread goes on. It was driving me crazy and I felt that it was decreasing my productivity whenever I check my email and realise it’s something that I’ve already seen before.
What I gather the problem is — when you set up your Exchange email as a regular account on your BlackBerry (POP / IMAP), the backend goes nuts and reassigns a different number to your email each time, tricking your BlackBerry into thinking that it hasn’t been pushed to your device before, hence getting multiple copies.
So the important thing to note is that for the EXCHANGE account, it has to be set-up as an EXCHANGE account. If you set-up the email from your phone, it doesn’t give you the option to set it up as an EXCHANGE account. Hence, you need to log into your BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) account on your service provider’s website.
For Singaporeans:
StarHub: https://starhub.blackberry.com
Singtel: https://singtel.blackberry.com
M1: https://m1.blackberry.com
Here is the tricky bit. Even the BIS platform via the website doesn’t give you a clear option to set up the EXCHANGE email account. So here are the steps:
1. Log into one of the websites above, corresponding to your correct service provider. The login details are not the same as the App World details. You should have already set this up when you sign up for a BlackBerry plan.
2. Delete the existing Exchange email account, if you already haven’t done so.
3. Click on ‘Set Up Another Email Account’.
4. Select ‘Add an existing email account (e.g. Yahoo!®, Google®, Microsoft® Exchange)’. In the fields, key in your Email address, and intentionally put in the wrong password, so that it will take you to the advance panel. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
5. On the next screen, it will tell you that the email address or password is incorrect, and it will also give you the option to click on ‘provide additional settings’. Please click on ‘provide additional settings’. You don’t have correct any of the fields at the moment.
6. You will go to a screen that says ‘Provide Additional Settings’.
Select Microsoft Exchange
Enter your email address and CORRECT PASSWORD.
Web Access URL: https://domainname
Username: DOMAINNAME\(email username)
Mailbox name: (select any name for your mailbox)
Click on ‘next’.
6. Enter your signature.
And Voila! DONE.
CoKi. Oven
So my BFF Cherie, is quite the crafter. It’s something I don’t quite understand — I don’t make diaper cakes, jewellery boxes and such — but I’ve always admired her tenacity in making time for herself to craft.
The other day, she tweeted me, saying that she was planning to make an oven/stove set for her son, Quentin, and asked if I wanted in on it. FOR SURE! Even though Clare already has 2-3 of her own (spread over different houses she goes to), but nothing beats an afternoon of crafting. Furthermore, Clare has been telling me about her interest in doing art and craft, and has requested to go for lessons. So she was really excited about us going over to craft together.
And so we popped over one rainy Sunday afternoon. The timing wasn’t the best, because the kids barely napped and were quite edgy, while the two mothers worked on putting together the basics. But by the time we sat them down and got them involved in decorating the ovens, peace was restored.
Clare really enjoyed herself, so did I. She really loves her oven/stove set and plays with it a lot. I’m very thankful she is not one of those children who would turn their nose up on home made items and insist on the shinier, mass produced, store bought one. In fact, I think she understands the significance of how special it is — that we all made it together. Clare even named it — CoKi. — which makes it even closer to her heart.
It was nice taking a time out for a couple of hours, just to do something for oneself. It also reminded me that there is a never ending possibility to be creative and that life isn’t always about a set list of what to do or not to do. I found myself asking Cherie, “Oh can I do it this way?”, “Can I put this here?” and she simply said, “Yah, you can do it in whatever way you want.” There was a time in my life not too long ago, I recall, sitting by the sewing machine for hours and making stuff. A dress and skirt for Clare, pouches, etc.
Cherie also reminded me the importance of MAKING TIME. Often, I find myself uttering, “But I don’t have time!” or “I can’t find time!”. And her response, “You don’t find time, you make time.” She reminded me that she too has a busy schedule (she runs too many companies to count, she’s got a 1.5 year old boy, and another baby along the way), yet she makes sure that she carves out some time for herself while looking after her family and her work, and somehow manages to balance it all!
It was a great couple of hours spent at her place with our kids running around and playing together.
And it was exactly what I needed. I am on the road for a bit now, and I can’t wait to get home to readjust and realign my life. Oh, and we need to make mittens next!
Instagram Filler
I’ve been taking more photos these days, with the iPhone 4S. On Instagram. I love that app. While the photos don’t have the best resolution, I’m happy just snapping away, applying a filter then uploading it. All within 2 minutes. Some photos for viewing here. If you don’t have Instagram, you can always hop onto my Flickr for a look-see. :)
Cash Cab Asia
Can I just say, that I was never a fan of game shows till this one came along. I loved working on it and am really proud of the series. Yup, photos by me!
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activeTV Asia’s latest production, Cash Cab Asia, has hit television screens in the region. Driven by Oli Pettigrew, this game show takes place in a cab, and unsuspecting passengers are driven to their destination while being quizzed along the way.
If the passengers get all the questions right when they have arrived, they will win the prize money. If they get three questions wrong, they get booted out of the cab. If stumped, passengers can ask for help from pedestrians off the street via a Street Shoutout, or they can call a friend via a Mobile Shoutout.
For your dose of pop culture trivia, tune in to AXN, every Wednesday at 8:35pm (SG/MY/HK), 7:35pm (JKT/TH), or every Thursday at 9:05pm (PH).
iPhone 4S
Steve Jobs would be so proud. Taken by the iPad2.
Most people who know me, would know that I’m a big BlackBerry advocate. I especially love the physical keyboard and the fact that it runs apps in the background with no problem at all. I use it mainly for work and have been most happy with the Torch and the current Bold 9900.
I just got my hands on the iPhone 4S and I really, really love it. I’ve used the first gen iPhone (which was really one of the coolest things that I ever laid my hands on at the time). I got the iPhone 3G next and my love for it waned, quickly being replaced by the newer models of the BlackBerry.
Upgrading to the iPhone 4S has been such a fantastic and zippy experience. I love how fast everything opens, the new camera and the resolution of the screen. The iPhone is a fantastic phone for lifestyle apps. I’ve been using Hipstamstic heaps … it’s making me feel like a photographer again. And the best part — I’ve upgraded from 16GB to 64GB and now I carry my ENTIRE MUSIC LIBRARY in my pocket, and heaps of videos too!
Some photos from the iPhone 4S:
Clare Turns Five
At Clare’s school concert.
Clare sppent the last week turning five. And she had a blast. Terence and I spent her birthday with her and she got to have her pick of toys from Toys ‘R’ Us, so she thought it was the best day ever. We celebrated on Sunday with family and friends and she spent all day from playing at Fidgets in the morning, to more playing at Cherie’s, to presents opening at night. She was feeling so loved at the end of it all, she kept on saying that ‘everybody is so kind to (her)’.
I’m so thankful that my child’s love tank is overflowing, and that she feels really loved, and in return, she cares so much for everyone else too.
I still can’t believe that she has turned five. FIVE. Where did my baby go?
We have full on conversations these days, where she tells me about her day and takes a genuine and keen interest in my day. She asks a lot of questions and is eager to listen and learn. And her capacity to understand confounds me sometimes.
I am really, really thankful for my baby girl (who can’t wait to grow up). I can’t wait to see what other surprises she brings in the years to come.
Quentin & Clare
Quentin’s mum, Cherie, and I, were best mates in secondary school. I really love how we both have kids now and we still do stuff together, like taking the kids to the zoo. I’m very lucky.
