Connie Talbot

Got this YouTube clip from mrbrown and he was saying how the singing made him teared. Initially, I thought he was being drama mama about it until I watched the clip for myself.

Aiyoh..... really can cry (well... almost) and I don't mean it in the negative sense.

I was also amazed that despite her chwee kee lao hong, she still able to sing so well.

Mark my words, we will definitely be hearing her in the future.

It was by far the most beautiful singing I have ever heard. For the first time, I was actually moved by someone's singing.

In a nutshell, I was blown away.

- Voxeros

1. Pam left...

Thursday, 14 June 2007 7:25 pm

thank you for putting this up - I'd just missed it by a minute because we got home late on Monday. She's fab. I teared. on the other hand, you should see the others.......! makes one cringe....:)

2. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 14 June 2007 8:21 pm :: 

Pam: You are most welcome. Good thing must share share mah..... :)

3. carbimazole left...

Thursday, 14 June 2007 9:35 pm

such an angelic voice...
¬hiaoauntie¬

4. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 14 June 2007 11:30 pm :: 

hiaoauntie: Indeed. Her singing for so fabulous that the song felt like it came to life. I could feel the emotions. It got me listening with both my ears and my heart. Unbelievable.

5. Jaslyn left...

Friday, 15 June 2007 3:06 am :: http://precious-jas.blogspot.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF0JgbC2IxE - watch this :)

6. JayWalk left...

Friday, 15 June 2007 7:56 am :: 

Jaslyn: Quite good too but I would still put Paul in second place albeit a close second.

7. Pam left...

Friday, 15 June 2007 4:01 pm

Paul Potts (the previous link) is fantastic. He sang 'time to say goodbye' last night and got into the finals (and made half the audience cry).

8. JayWalk left...

Monday, 18 June 2007 11:33 am :: 

Pam: Here's the secret. We are all suckers for the "underdog". An ordinary looking person with an ordinary job, leading an ordinary life. Isn't that what we are all going through now? We are able to relate to Paul Potts and it is this endearing factor that made him popular.

Where credit is due. Yes. He is good. It looked even a bigger victory if one has to start the race a few rungs behind.

We are definitely going to be more impressed with a student from Boon Lay Secondary Normal Steam achieving 10 A1s in the O-Levels than an RGS girl pulling the same results.

In a way, we are him and we are all trying to live out this fantasy of catching the "BIG BREAK" through him.

Paul Potts not only brought us opera. He brought us hope as well.

9. slurp! left...

Monday, 18 June 2007 11:45 pm :: http://slurplog.blogsome.com

imho, i think Connie Talbot surprised many as nobody expects a child to sing with such emotion. However, a child is still a child, nevertheless she shows great potential!! proper nurturing could turn her to another Charlotte Church or Hayley Westenra?

Paul Potts vocal power is awesome & he sang with such deep emotion.

10. aloe left...

Tuesday, 19 June 2007 9:20 am :: http://www.xanga.com/aloeve

your link brought me to the one for "Am3rica g0t Ta1ent" and the winner is an 11year old gal who sang too maturedly for my taste. However, these competitions do seem to show that quite a number of kids can dance (re: breakdancing kid) or sing very well! I just wonder if it's natural and if it's really their interest, or they are trained to do all these by their families...

11. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 19 June 2007 3:30 pm :: 

Slurp: I saw Connie Talbot again in the semi-finals as well as the finals and I felt that she didn't do as well. It no longer matter by then as the audience were already hooked, line and sinker.

Paul Potts, on the other hand, seemed to have gone from strength to strength while Connie Talbot's chest of secret weapons have more or less run out already.

I am switching my vote to Paul Potts.

Aloe: I guess one of the appealing factor of Connie Talbot was the purity of her innocence. A rarity in this day and age.

12. Pam left...

Wednesday, 20 June 2007 11:04 pm

well, you can be cynical, analytical, whatever... (in your old dotage, I give you that!! :))... but Paul was very good. And we were very impressed. We would buy his CD if he releases one.

13. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 21 June 2007 8:49 am :: 

Pam: Old dotage your head lah!! *bish*

Like I said in my later comment, I felt that Paul Potts deserves to win more than Connie Talbot for the fact that the latter wasn't able to raise her game to the next level whereas Paul Potts has gone from strength to strength as he advanced.

14. Pelicanbrief76 left...

Wednesday, 12 September 2007 9:56 pm

The first time i saw connie singing at BGT by accidentally surfing at youtube, i'm really amazed the way she delivered the song. Definitely she's the next best thing in the music industry.

15. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 13 September 2007 9:49 am :: 

Pelican: I just hope that her parents nurture her talent properly and not see her as a money tree. Btw, BGT winner Paul Potts recently came down to HK to promote his debut album.

16. charlie3 left...

Saturday, 3 November 2007 3:27 am

Connie got a record deal. There a new video on youtube of her singing in the studio. Go to myspace.com and search on connie talbot and there are 4 tracks from the album there. "I will always love you" the Whitney Houston song is my favorite of the bunch.

17. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 3 November 2007 4:18 pm :: 

Charlie3: Welcome to the blog and thanks for the update. I hope that Connie's parents will not let fame and greed get to their heads and fail to nurture this little girl properly. She has a great future ahead of her. Let's hope that this talent don't go to waste as a result of bad handling.

We have had too many cases of child celebrities growing up all haywired.

No. 169 Chung King North Road Section 3

 

Ok, I am still flying blind with this Flickr thing but strangely I am able to view the pictures if I use my mobile phone's browser via GPRS. Arrghhh... this is super frustrating!

Give me back my Flickr, you bladdy Spitland Internet Gestapo!

Anyway, if you recall my earlier entry where I mentioned that I nicked two items from my Grandpa's house during his funeral, one of which being the thermometer, which after verification from my cousin, is confirmed to be more than 50 years old.

Well, the other item was this metal plate that was supposed to be pasted on our front door for postal identification. We own the four floors where 1st Floor was rented out as shop space. 2nd floor was where my grandparents sleeps as well as a living room plus a home office. 3rd floor is where the rest of us sleeps cum dining room and kitchen. 4th floor is an empty space with an praying altar and a ping pong table. Because of the vast space on that floor, it naturally became our default play area. Above the 4th floor is the roof top were we hang our washings to dry. Since all the buildings were connected, we were able to climb over to the next building from the roof top.

There were a lot of memories when I returned to the house during my Grandpa's passing. I can still see the stickers that were pasted, when we were kids, all over the book cabinet as well as the rubber DaTung American Football Doll coin bank.

All these reminiscing got me map googling the house and here they are below (Click to enlarge).

I am not exactly sure of the location of the house from the satellite photos as I suspect it could also be the house diagonally opposite.

I wonder if my cousins can verify this?

- Voxeros

1. ianrush left...

Sunday, 17 June 2007 9:04 am

to be honest, i'm not 100% sure myself. can you re-direct me to the original map? need to enlarge the map to take a closer look. : )

2. Everton left...

Sunday, 17 June 2007 10:46 pm

The satellite photo missed the location by one block. It should be the block situated on the corner of the intersection between Chung King North Rd and Ming Chu West Rd.

3. JayWalk left...

Monday, 18 June 2007 11:23 am :: 

ianrush: Just go to maps.google.com and type in Chung King North Road in traditional ch1nese characters.

everton: I think you are looking at the wrong arrow. You should not be looking at the arrow pointed by the white dialogue bubble. Instead, you should look at the arrow of the yellow peg.

I am aware that our house is at the junction between Chung King North Road Section 3 and Ming Chu West Road. But diagonally across from the yellow peg is also considered at the junction. So which side are we?

Got Flickr! Back

It wasn't because the Spitland Internet Gestapo (SIG) has release Flickr! back into the open but rather of the fact that I found a Firefox addon that could get around this block.

For guys with similar problem, here is the Firefox addon at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4286. It was developed by an Iranian as Flickr was blocked there. Fortunately, the nature of the block over here in Spitland as well as other tightly controlled countries like Saudi Arabia is similar and as such this addon works over here.

Score one for Firefox over Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, that would mean that I would also have to revert back to Firefox from Sea Monkey as my default browser. What that means is that I may end up with the CPU leak problem on Firefox (which would require frequent Firefox restarts) but I think it is a small price to pay to get back my Flickr!.

Anyway, my suspicion was confirmed as to what caused the suddenly locked down of the site. Apparently, the pictures (that people were uploading to Flickr!) covering the pr0test in X1amen over the building of the P.X. plant earlier in the month triggered the lock down by the SIG.

For those outside of Spitland, check this out. http://flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=xiamen+px&m=text.

G1oba1 Voices has also covered this Flickr! disapperance act. Read it at http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/06/07/china-flickr-filtered/
 

- Voxeros

1. lancerlord left...

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 7:58 pm :: http://lancerlord.blogspot.com

You try searching the net. Many tips to improve the memory leak problem in FF.
I feel the latest Firefox seemed to be able to tahan the leaky problem better. Still memory sucking but not as intense as before.

2. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 14 June 2007 9:30 am :: 

Lancerlord: I am refering to CPU leak where Firefox can suck up to as much as 97% of your CPU resources rendering your entire PC/Laptop to a crawl. No problems with memory leak as 230 mb of ram allocated to Firefox alone is a common fare given that I have many tabs opened concurrently.

Speaking of which, I have 10 tabs opened right now as I am typing.

3. lancerlord left...

Monday, 18 June 2007 10:48 pm :: http://lancerlord.blogspot.com

97% means can pack bag, go home liao. Everything will be like standstill. Pek chek. :)

4. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 19 June 2007 3:33 pm :: 

Lancerlord: Well, it happened again last night when I realised my laptop was taking its own bladdy sweet time to recover from Standby Mode.

Task manager indicated the Firefox was again sucking up to 97% of the CPU resource which prompted me to forced shut down to kill the process.

SpitLand Screws Flickr

This started yesterday when my Flickr images started to disappear. I did the usual troubleshooting steps like clearing the cache, check firewall settings, check if browser is blocking image loading from Flickr. I even tried different browsers, proxies but to no avail. A check with friends in Malaysia and Singapore, both sides reported nothing amiss. I went home and tried to access from my home computer and alas same problem with that in the office.

I can only conclude that the Spitland gahmen is locking down the images even though I can access Flickr. Just not the images.

So essentially right now, I am flying blind. Like a blind-folded Shogun killing all the ninja assassins in the room. Use the Force, Luke! Ok ok... iDrama.

It got me thinking why the sudden lock down. Usually lock down occurs when there is something big happening like last year's Nat10nal Pe0p1e's C0ngr3ss AGM. Then it dawned on me. We just recently passed the anniversary of a certain event where troops and tanks were deployed in a certain Square to quash civilian protestors. Perhaps this embargo is to prevent circulation of photos?

Anyway, everything is just speculation on my part.

Hopefully, everything will be back to normal in a couple of days.

p.s. My internet at home is down since last night though I suspect that it is mere coincidence.

- Voxeros

Beginner Golf

Was in the SPUG forum where there was a thread on golf. I offered some tips for beginners and I thought it would be useful for readers here who are beginners.

Anyway, the post was written off the cuff and as such may have some inaccuracies. Nevertheless, I still think it is fairly accurate and as best as I know.

Enjoy.

---

If you want to get up to speed in the fastest possible time, you need to hit the green fast. However, in order to do that, you need to get at least a Proficiency Certificate (PC) or a handicap of 24 or lower.

I think 10 lessons is a good number. However, if you wanna get the most out of it, here's where I recommend:

1) Stretch out your lessons. Get in 2 driving range sessions of your own in between each lesson. e.g. Mon and Wed and if your lesson is every Friday. If, like many for work reasons, you are not able to commit to such a hectic schedule or if you are not in a hurry to get up to speed, book your lessons further apart. It is a real waste of money if you have to use your lesson time to do your own range practice.

Another thing you can do is arrive 1 hour earlier than your scheduled lesson. Drive a bucket of balls or two. That would get you suitably warmed up before your lesson as well. After your lesson, drive another bucket to go through what you have learned.

2) Next, is to get your PC which is relatively easy. You should be familiar with etiquette by now. Dress appropriately for the test and that include golf shoes. Give a good impression and all the more easier to pass.

3) First time on the green is like a virgin. It is going to get messy. You will realised that the fairways is nothing like the range. The ball doesn't sit nicely on top of the grass and more often than not, neither are you standing on perfectly level ground. Also, unlike range where you have 100 balls to get that one stroke right, you get only that one chance to get the ball out.

Don't worry if your score end up a big number, you lost count. We all did.

4) Stupid things are bound to happen. Air balls. Clubs fly further than the ball. Clubs fly into water. Balls end up behind you instead of ahead, etc. Don't worry about it. We have all done it. Sure your friends will be laughing at you. That's only because they are forwarding the favour. Next time, you will have your own newbies to laugh at. Fret not.

5) Submit your score cards whenever you play. Don't worry if you lost count. Do your best. Otherwise, just put down the hole as a 10*.

* By right, you are not supposed to do that as you have a duty to report an accurate score. But what you going to do if you really lost count? Anyway, if you can play a hole of more than 10, your total score would probably be screwed and invalid for handicap calculation anyway. See point 6.

6) Score card will only be valid for handicap calculation if it is under 35 handicap i.e 107. Submit 10 (18 holes or 20 9-holes game) of the sub-107 score and you should be eligible for your handicap test.

7) Don't be nervous during the test. You don't have to play exceptionally well to pass. Club captains or management committee members or club pros will play a courtesy round with you and will be observing your etiquette, your knowledge of the rules as well as your knowledge of scoring. Where to apply what penalty etc. As long as you don't play a super disastrous round that would remind them of Mr Bean. You should be ok.

8) There are only 2 outcomes to the test. Either you fail or you pass. If you pass, they will normally start you off with a handicap of 24. Some people are known to start off lower but those are usually refresher candidates i.e. they haven't been playing for a while and their handicap lapsed.

For some clubs like Warren Golf & Country Club, they have a in-between status. It is for those who didn't play too badly but not good enough to get a 24 handicap. These folks will get a handicap of 25. The significance of the 25 handicapper is that they are not allowed to play during prime time i.e. weekends (like a PC holder) but they no longer need to take another handicap test. All they need to do is to start submitting cards for the games that they play and as they improve, their handicap will be adjusted to 24 and below subsequently.

9) You need to actively submit your cards in order to maintain your handicap. Otherwise, usually after 1 year of inactivity, your handicap will lapse and you may have to retake the handicap test. See point 8 with respect to refresher candidates.

10) In most cases in Singapore, White tees are for men with handicaps more than 18. Blue tees are for men of handicap 18 and under. In Ch1na. Blue tees are for men 65 years old and below. White tees are for the older folks and women who beat you in arm wrestling.

---

Image Credit: http://www.rocklandgolfcourse.com

- Voxeros

1. nadnut left...

Wednesday, 6 June 2007 10:21 pm :: http://nadnut.liquidblade.com

i played minigolf once and got thrashed like mad. sad sia.

2. hitomi left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 10:39 am

I gotta find time for golf lessons. din manage to go for PC test that time. :-(

3. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 1:08 pm :: 

nadnut: Nairmind. Come back I give you tuition on putting.

hitomi: If you can find a kaki, then easier to find time.

4. nadnut left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 1:12 pm :: http://nadnut.liquidblade.com

im beyond hope.

5. ihawk98 left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 3:22 pm

No need PC or handicap 24 to play in some countries leh.

6. hitomi left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 5:23 pm

kelawar says he interested but i think he needs to find his clubs first. i need to custom make a putter. my set too short. any recommendations?

7. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 6:16 pm :: 

nadnut: I doubt it. My methods of teaching putting has been proven. A lot of my friends can vouch for it. Don't give up hope yet.


ihawk98: Well, since most readers are in Singapore. I speak from a Singaporean context. Even places in Malaysia and our neighbouring Indon islands need a valid handicap but it is more of a "by right vs by left" situation.

hitomi: Don't waste your money on custom made clubs. Your level is not high enough to reap the benefits that custom made clubs have to offer. Save your money. I would recommend Odyssey mallets for you. Rossie II has always been a favourite of mine. I still using it today. Serving me faithfully since 1996. You should however, keep a lookout for a longer shaft like 36" or 37". Most are 34" to 35". I can keep a lookout for you when I go US in July. Interested?

8. hitomi left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 11:08 pm

My Mizuno clubs came in a set mah.. will it be too much of a trouble for u? s'pore cannot get a suitable one? i scared u bring all the way back the length not right again... the one i have gave me backaches cos i had to bend down so much. my instructor said it's the wrong length.

9. JayWalk left...

Friday, 8 June 2007 9:19 am :: 

hitomi: Tell you what. Why do you go back and check your putter. Measure from heel to end of the handle, then tell me how long is it. What putter you using by the way. Assuming you bought the complete set, Mizuno what model?

If have time when I come back next, I organise a driving range outing for us. Free tuition! :)

10. hitomi left...

Friday, 8 June 2007 2:55 pm

ok, will go back and check. thanks in advance! warning: i beri chialak one hor, long time since i last touched my clubs. :-P

11. JayWalk left...

Friday, 8 June 2007 4:14 pm :: 

hitomi: Don't worry about being jialat. I have seen them all and I was one myself too. I am teaching 4 people right now even as we speak.

12. hitomi left...

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 9:41 am

i mms u pic of my putter - did u receive? it's mizuno opti. forgot to measure length tho'. :-P

13. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 4:57 pm :: 

hitomi: No. I switched off MMS feature since I hardly use it and I get more spam than actual MMS messages from friends.

Email me instead, please.

14. hitomi left...

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 5:54 pm

ok lor...

Farewell To The Frequent Flyer Program

I was planning my next US trip again when I did the usual rounds of making phone calls and getting quotations. My first stop would invariably be Northwest Airlines. I have been flying with them for the last 6 years and rightly so for a very good reason.

They give the best value of money but only if you navigate strategically and strike that optimal balance between cash and frequent flyer points.

If you are looking at a straight forward economy return ticket to the US. Northwest Airlines' discounted economy fare (around HKD 4,000) has consistently been the most competitive. However, the same cannot be said the same for Business class fare (around HKD 34,000). I am at the point where my travel budget allows me to be somewhere in between i.e. Full Fare Economy (around HKD 12,000).

One may ask if discounted economy is so cheap (less then half of full fare economy at times), why bother with full fare economy? The answer is simple. Only with full fare economy am I allowed to use my frequent flyer points to upgrade to business class. Full fare economy is around half of a full fare business. In other words, I can get a business class seat at half price (+60,000 points). Pretty good value for money if you ask me.

I have never had trouble getting the points for NWA has always been rather generous with the points. The 125% bonus for Platinum Elite is just additional cherry on top.

However, there is a catch to this. Upgrades are subjected to availability i.e. I may pay full fare economy and still end up in economy. It is quite a bit of a gamble in the sense that you won't know if there are available upgrade seat up to the day of the departure itself. You need to buy a full fare economy ticket and then hope for the best.

In a way, there is a pecking order as to who gets the remaining business class seats. After all the fare paying business class seats are taken, the balance are then made available to the various upgrade passengers. Within the upgrade passengers, we are ranked by our elite member status so as to determine who would be the lucky passenger to get the last available upgrade seat. I would say with the Platinum membership, I tend to get quite far ahead in the waiting list. However, when the planets are aligned, die die no upgrade seats means no upgrade seats and one would be better off just getting the discounted economy fare. Sadly the enlightenment is always the result of a 20-20 hindsight.

In the beginning, I almost have no trouble getting my upgrades but in the past 2 years, they have becoming more and more frequent. I was most infuriated when after paying full fare economy, I could not get upgraded due to the business class being full, or so I was told. Imagine my shock when I saw more than 20 empty seats!

As I encountered more and more of such occurrences, my loyalty is starting to wane and this recent quote of HKD 17,000 is probably the last straw.

Frigging HKD 17,000 for an economy seat with no guarantee of an upgrade. I have to be mad if I were to book that ticket. Anyway, I trawled the websites and I found Thai Airways offering Business Class at HKD 21,000 (I presume it's a discounted business class ticket but who cares?) and if I may add, a guaranteed seat in business class. Granted that Thai Airways, being a partner airline of the Star Alliance i.e. the points earned will not do my Northwest Airlines (SkyTeam) any good, it no longer matter if you are no longer loyal to any particular program.

Anyway this is my travel strategy going forward. Fortunately, it coincides with my plan to scale down my number of trips to the US from 6 to just 2, thus I can afford to fly discounted business class with whichever available airline and still spend less per year.

At 970,000 miles, I am 1 US trip away from hitting the million-mile mark (NWA calls it the Million Air Club) with Northwest Airlines from which I would be award a lifetime membership at Elite Gold tier.

You know what?

I no longer care anymore.

- Voxeros

1. Gary left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 2:15 pm

hmm.. would you consider about compromising for safety rather than the qualities that they have given?

2. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 6:23 pm :: 

Gary: I think you will have to rephrase that question coz I have no idea what is it that you are trying to ask.

3. Gary left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 8:43 pm

this qn have little bearing towards the post.. would you still choose for upgrades and compromise safety??

4. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 8:52 pm :: 

Gary: Since when has I compromised safety? Sorry dude but you lost me there.

5. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 7 June 2007 9:24 pm :: 

Gary: I don't think there is a choice between upgrade and safety. Safety is not an option to begin with.

6. barffie left...

Friday, 8 June 2007 8:49 pm :: http://barffie.liquidblade.com

I think he was trying to say that maybe Thai Airways not as safe as Northwest given the track record or the consumer perception (nudge nudge) of the different airlines? Jay is right to say that safety cannot be compromised no matter how much or less you pay for the airfare. But Thai Airways has been trying to improve... so give them a chance lah. (btw I keep forgetting my password. ARGGH.

7. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 9 June 2007 3:03 pm :: 

Barffie: If I may direct you to this website @ http://www.planecrashinfo.com/rates.htm, how safe an airline is quite subjective except for the bloody obvious Indonesian airlines and the Ta1wanese Ch1na airlines.


Yes, Northwest Airlines ranks above Thai Airways which in turn ranks above Singapore Airlines/Silkair. Do we think our own national carrier is unsafe? I'd bet you'd say no which consequently saying that Thai Airways also very safe.

In each airline's history, Northwest has 4 fatal accidents while Thai and SIA/Silkair has 2 each. Which is safer?

Also, if I may add, ticket prices does not equate to safety i.e. cheap budget airlines will be more dangerous? Air worthiness has to be passed before allowed to fly, regardless of whether it is a FSC or LCC.

8. marie left...

Monday, 11 June 2007 12:15 am

I have been trying all day to join the frequent flyer prog with north west> I am already with Star Alliance. Travel with Thai airways ALL The Time. However, now I will be travelling out of UK instead of Singapore for a while.

First .. After reading your long email re... frequent flyer prog for Northwest. Im not impressed. Secondly. Thai airways have a very good safety record. Very hot on security in Thailand itself. Travelled 3/4 times a year with Thai for the last 16 years . Very impressed all round. Excellent frequent flyer prog.
Looking for same out of UK to USA.

9. JayWalk left...

Monday, 11 June 2007 9:00 am :: 

Marie: If you are going to be traveling out of UK, then perhaps OneWorld would be better suited for you as British Airways is a member. BA has always be one of my one favoured airlines. If you have the budget for Business Class, their Club World's lie flat bed seating is simply a delight. Most airlines boast of a 180 degrees flat seat but they always failed to mention that it is at an angle i.e. not horizontal. As a result, this feature proved to be utterly useless as you will find yourself at the bottom of your seat unknowingly, as you slided down during your sleep.

If your budget is more modest, their World Traveller Plus aka Premium Economy is also good value for money especially on long haul flights. Without the price tag of a Business Class ticket (though slightly pricier than a regular economy ticket), you get more legroom and recline as well as a footrest for a more endurable flight.

I can't really say the SkyTeam (Northwest) is all bad. Perhaps over time when my own travelling habits are altering, SkyTeam looks less and less suited for my needs and NWA management don't seen to be doing anything about trying to retain these loyal customers who have been with them for years.

So do I ditch them?

Probably not. No point burning bridges here even though they are no longer at the top of my seek list. For all you know, you may need them again in the future.

10. JayWalk left...

Monday, 11 June 2007 9:49 am :: 

Marie: As for trans-atlantic flights, it would depend on your final destination in the US. There is a need to know if the final destination is one of a major city or one of the super ulu little town.

If it were the former and the prices are around the same, I would recommend avoiding US airlines. US Airlines are known for their lousy serivce. Skytraxx ranked the Big 4, namely American, United, Delta and Northwest, at a mere 3-stars.

However, before we write them off totally, they have excellent connections to the smaller cities and we may have to fly with them in order to get to your final intended destination.

Grandpa's Thermometer

This may look like a dirty old room thermometer but I am sure that when my two cousins who are reading this right now, would know where this came from or at the very least find it familiar.

This is the room thermometer that sat in my grandfather's room when he was still alive. It has been there since my cousins and I were kids. It wasn't brand new when I first saw this during one of my many summer holidays in Taipei. That means that this thermometer is easily 50 years old or even more. I won't be surprised if this was Pre-World War II?

Anyway, this thermometer has been with me since my Grandpa's funeral in the early 90s. He passed away at the age of 93 and I swiped this from his room as a keepsake to remember him by when I brought it back with me to Singapore.

Now, it is safely with me in Spitland. It would be interesting to see a few more years down the road when I can show this off to my family and friends that I am in possession of a 100-year old room thermometer. How cool is that?

The aftermath of the funeral back then was pretty ugly. You guessed it, uncles and aunts fighting, quarreling and arguing over the inheritance.

I think I got the best prize of them all. This little room thermometer. It may worth nothing in the monetary sense but it meant the world to me.

Nevermind that I had to steal it but heck, nobody noticed it anyway and would probably end out in the trash, had I not taken it.

Well, there are 2 things that I nicked during the passing of my grandpa and this is one of them. Let me see if I can find the other one, for I can't remember if I brought it up with me to Spitland or I left it back in Singapore.

Give me a day to go look for it.

- Voxeros

1. aGentX left...

Tuesday, 5 June 2007 6:21 am :: http://agent-x.blogspot.com/

I remembered that my family has the same when I was a very little boy.
It was always there, at a wall somewhere and I guessed nobody noticed when it was gone - seeing that picture invoked many childhood images...thanks.

2. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 5 June 2007 10:28 am :: 

aGentX: Welcome back. I guess my point that I was trying to drive across is that do not underestimate the value of anything even if it look mundane and/or humble. For all you know, a great unquantifiable value lies underneath. The same goes for people as well.

3. Everton left...

Saturday, 9 June 2007 7:23 am

That thermometer is at least 50 years old for sure and has a lot sentimental values. Please take good care of it.

4. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 9 June 2007 3:06 pm :: 

Everton: You remember seeing this when you were a kid too?

Time Out For Garuda

"The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has advised that the country of Indonesia does not comply with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Therefore, effective immediately, Northwest Airlines has temporarily suspended its WorldPerks, passenger and cargo agreements with Garuda Indonesia Airlines." Source: http://www.nwa.com/asia/en/worldperks/earn/airfl.html#garuda

Was searching for flights on Northwest Airlines when I spotted this bulletin update. It was not really surprising considering the fact that Indonesia's recent hot streak of disasters for all land, air and sea modes of transportation.

To be shut out of the door by your fellow industry counterparts is not merely a slap in the fact but a slap in the face with a mallet.

That has gotta hurt.

Ouch.

- Voxeros

Photo Shoot - Part 2

... continuing from where we left off yesterday.... 

I decided to wander around in between shoots and I think this place looked more like a movie/tv set than a photography studio. The racks at the side housed the props from potted plants to wine bottles to tea sets to fake plasma screen TV, etc.

The boss was lamenting to me that the props have a limited lifespan. Granted they are quite durable and could last for years, they have to be replace them often as there are only some many times you can use the same props in the various shoots, before someone realised that you have been using it once too often. In their line, deja vu is a strict no no. And so to throw these props away when they are still in pretty good shape, he couldn't help but feel the heart pain with every spring cleaning.

After the break, it was time to do the second shoot. We had to take the photo from another angle to highlight another feature of the product. This time round we wanted to emphasise on the wood burl inlay that we applied to the parquet of the table top.

This is how the picture turned out from the high angle shot. Click here to enlarge.

And this is the final shot. It's been exactly a year since this design was first drafted and was glad to finally see it in its full splendour. Still, we are way ahead of schedule as we are only slated to launch this in January 2008. Click here to enlarge. 

- Voxeros

1. An left...

Saturday, 2 June 2007 10:08 am

Wooowww!! nice furniture. Can send over to my house? wahahahhahaha!!! =P

2. slurp! left...

Monday, 4 June 2007 11:08 pm :: http://slurplog.blogsome.com

OMG, and you already showing them here when they are to launch only on Jan 2008???!!
anyway, thanks for showing these spy shots kekekeke ... looks very European in design.

3. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 5 June 2007 10:25 am :: 

An: Eh. I must warn you that this set is damn bladdy big. Can fit inside your house or not?

Slurp!: Yeah, I know it is kind of risky to show this to the entire world so early. I just hope none of the furniture people sees this as they are just not the blogging types. *fingers crossed*

Photo Shoot - Part 1

Just completed a new design and was sending it to the studio for a photo shoot. My modus operandi is that I will shoot the product in-house during the beta prototype stages. That way I would be able to have something to show my customers during the interim. The picture above was taken back in 2005 when I was ranting about Dumbass of The Week II.

As you can see, my in-house studio is a very spartan/generic/vanilla/no frills studio. Hence when the design is finally completed, it will be sent to a professional photo studio for a proper shot. However, I think the word studio is inaccurate granted that we are dealing with big sized items here. Perhaps a photo set would be more appropriate a term? 

Anyway, I went for the photo shoot yesterday as I have to *ahem* play the role of the director telling the photographer how I want the shot to be taken. 

Also, I thought you guys may be interested and seeing how we do a product photo shoot and so I took pictures along the way.

The set is about 40 minutes away from the factory and at the end of this alley. From the street side, it looked like I was heading to some underground gambling den. It was 3pm in the sleepy afternoon and not a squeak in the alley, as if the summer heat had lulled everyone in a comatose siesta. The blue roller shutters is the entrance to the set. It has to be big in order for our trucks to be able to reverse into it for easier loading and unloading of our items.

This is the staging area of the set. As stuff are constantly moving in and out, neatness was never a priority here. The actual photography is taken behind those silver curtains. See the white platform in the distance dangled in midair by a network of cables? We will come to that in the next picture.

The white platform is actually the ceiling of the "dining room". When it is time to shoot, we have to roll down the blue roller shutters to keep out the light from outside. What turned out at the end is a non-ventilated warehouse in the scorching heat of the summer sun. We were all dripping buckets inside this over-sized oven.

... to be continued 

- Voxeros