A gem indeed ...

I am not sure why exactly but I have resisted watching the period Korean drama (that can go on and on and on) but it could be because most of the time there's a lot of crying involve and too many sad instances or even god forbid, sad endings! Sorry but reality is miserable enough as it is and for my escapism to be worth escaping to,  I would like to watch happy Korean dramas.

But when I was in KL recently, I caved in and bought Jewel in the Palace or Dae Jang Geum which was a huge hit in 2003-2004 when it was aired in Korea and eventually around the world. Yes, many years later, I joined the mass of people who have watched this period drama and I absolutely LOVE IT. It took me many many weeks to watch it but it was worth it. I would like to re-watch this drama soon but am going to take a break otherwise suffer from an overdose of Jang Geum-ness.

I love the chemistry between the characters Ming Jun-ho (played by Jin Ji-Hee who is so darn cute) and Jang Geum (played beautifully by Lee Young-ae) and also liked how the story was nicely weaved around life in the palace. Yes, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is into Korean dramas and have not seen this. Assure you, HAPPY ENDING!!! *grins*

Hmm, now wondering what should I watch next ....

Boo!

Guess who I found among the potted plants outside my apartment. No garden so this guy is definitely a city gnome taking care of the potted plants :o) Photo for the day!

Lovin' the Best Camera app ...

In my previous post, I took up the challenge of doing a Photograph A Day for a couple of months and I sure didn't know what I was getting myself into. Firstly, I don't do very well under such 'pressure' (from myself, yeah, I know it's silly). Secondly, the perfectionist in my made an appearance and nothing around me seemed worthy enough for me to shoot. Thirdly, weekdays are usually spent in the confines of my car, office, back in my car and home and everything just seems too boring. Fourthly, I don't bring my camera around when I do my walks around my work place so even if I find anything, I don't have my camera on me. So several weeks passed and I failed to get any decent shots at all.

Last week, I came across an application called Best Camera and it seemed interested so I got it. And only had a chance to play with it today and I love it. Realistically, even good photographers have to edit their photographs to 'clean' them up and I usually don't have much time or the skill to edit my photos creatively. I usually just clean it up such that the colours become brighter .. that's it. But from this application, it's so user-friendly to make simple edits. I am sure it is able to do more but for now, this might be a good start in helping me reach my goal of a photograph a day.

Just to show you what I have done so far, here are two samples from today:

Am not sure what kind of grass these are (above) but came across them today. And with the Best Camera application, this is what it looks like after some simple editing. I LOVE IT!!! There is actually a white frame around the photograph and with a black background, it looks real nice (to me at least) *grins* Am just amazed how the photograph looks so different just by changing it to a black-and-white version.

Another one is of my favourite drink - Coca Cola. I am still exploring the options so the photographs can be better but for now, am still experimenting (and lovin' it).

And here is after I played around some with the photograph. Again, with a black background and the white frame around, the contrast is pretty cool.

It's been three years ..

Was at the Esplanade for dinner as we were celebrating Slawek's three years 'anniversary' since he moved to Singapore in 2007. Time has gone by real fast and am surprised when he reminded me that it has been three years!! Wow. And he has gone through a lot having made the move, being away from his family, going through the different accommodation especially in the first year and also changes in his job in a totally new environment. But am thankful that he made the move here and I don't think I tell him enough how grateful I am!! Ditto!
 

Photograph above is my first for my Goal 1: Shoot a Photo A Day challenge. It turned out harder than I thought, partly because I am cooped up in the office most of the time at work. And I was looking around and realised that I was being too fussy with my shot. One of these days, I should just take a photograph of my office or my super messy table. The photograph above was taken with my girlie camera and not too bad for a point and shoot camera without a tripod. Will have to bring the dslr one night out to the esplanade and see what I can get! Wonder what will tomorrow's shot be!

Overdose on fruits ...

I managed to get some shopping done today so am pleased with myself. My phone contract is due for renewal so yes, I got myself the iphone! It's now being charged and I can wait to get it synced up with my apps and all. I also got my Dad his birthday present. His birthday is not till 25 January but I thought he could do with his gift earlier so that he can hmmm, play with it *grins*

I was looking through my camera and found a photograph I took on 31 December when I went over to the Pasir Panjang Whole Sale Market. I wish I could say that I went to a nearby farm and picked these fruits straight from the trees but hey, I am in Singapore, we don't have a lot of land and as you can see from the pic below, a lot of the fruits are imported *grins* so even if I tried to lie, nobody would believe me.

The grapes were really sweet and seedless (I don't understand why anyone would choose grapes with seeds when the seedless option is so easily available. Gorgeous sweet mangoes from Australia. Yummy Korean strawberries, they were sooo sweet, lil oranges from China and Grapples (grapes infused into them apples) from the States. Yummy!!!

To pursue an interest ... Photographic Goal 1

For this year, one of my goals is to pick up photography proper by taking up a basic photography course. Currently, what I do is just aim and shoot and would like to have better control over my photographs. While surfing, I came across a post where a guest writer suggested 30 photographic goals for 2010. It sounded interesting so am going to give it a go. Instead of listing all thirty, am going to do them one at a time and will also post it on my blog one at a time. So let's see by 2011, how many of the 30 goals will I manage to commit to. My goal is all 30 of course. Some of the goals listed I have already started but am not too regular due to a whole of reasons. But it's 2010 so am going to make time for myself (think I mentioned wanting to do this in my 2009 goals too *laughs .. oh well) and put in time and effort so hopefully by end of 2010, I would feel a lot more confident in taking them photographs.

So here's Goal 1- Shoot A Photo A Day

I usually have my camera with me but I am going to include the use of my mobile camera too. And it's not about just shooting a photo, any photo but it also includes thinking why I picked that subject/scene to take and how could it be better and eventually try and build up a collection (stock photography worthy photographs) based on different themes. Will also update here on my progress. For now, will aim to take photos for the month of January and February. Wish me luck!