Singapore revisted part 2 - Watercove Park

This is the new waterpark playground at RWS that just opened just this year. My sis needs to work and my mum needs her rest from yesterday :P So, it's just the 4 of us and I have to say. This park is pretty good.

Boy got all psyched up when we reached the entrance and saw all the rides. I think he would have jumped straight into the water if I have not been there to pull him back. It was nightmare trying to control him when both he and girl girl get excited. Wife was not smart enough to change before we go so we have to wait for her. (Try asking a 3 year old to wait to play... :P) Finally she got dressed and we hopped into the river adventure which takes us all around the entire park. We stopped halfway at the wave pool and have fun at the wave pool and big bucket. It's a pity though as most of the rides are for teens and adults so most of the rides the kids can't take part. Wife and girl did try one of the more adventurous one while boy and I have fun at the wave pool.

We then try to snorkel but boy was too young and not allowed... (Bah) . So we just continued with the river adventure and went back to get some money for lunch. Both of them ate alot this round (replenish all the energy spent. We continued to play at the wave pool and the big bucket playground until I have to pry them out of there. Took some effort but managed to do so by promising them to visit the aquarium next door.

Big mistake. The aquarium was great but boy was all psyched up and tired from the watercove park. So he was just running amok in the aquarium and wife and I took more time trying to calm him down rather than enjoying the display. Girl was ok though and she loved the huge Manta ray in the large aquarium. She asked me how come the Manta like not happy like dat... hehehe.. And the jellyfish. She just stared straight into that tank for minutes...

Again, we managed to leave the island at around 5.30pm and we had our slight early dinner at Sushi Tei at Vivo. Then it's all bus ride again on bus 30 double decked bus. They really enjoy the bus rides as we do not have that in Thailand. This round, boy was wide awake and making engine noises when the bus is moving. Again, we managed to get front seats on the bus. I think next round, I don't need to plan anything. Just take our "World Class Transport" can liao...

All photos in this post taken with my new waterproof phone. Sony Xperia Z

New toy and new exploration on NFC

My contract with Starhub just finished and I received a $100 voucher for a new phone. I was planning to get the Note 2 or the Google Nexus 4 until I saw the Ads of the Sony Xperia Z on the web. Wow.. a water/dust-resistant phone. That bloody sounds interesting. I'm not going to touch too much on the specs here as there are tons of website out there describing it. I just want to say I am excited about this phone and it will be a game changer for Sony as they really really did their magic on this one.

Initially I was a bit sceptic as Sony Ericsson's phones on Andriod had been a complete utter lack down ever since they introduced the 1st Xperia. It's true, the overlay on the stock andriod was so heavy handed that I couldn't tell it's running on Andrioid :P It's like Samsung but at least they roll out their updates frequently and at least, much faster then the rest of the Andriod family (Asus is actually much faster but that's another story)

But after some videos and more research. I was pretty impressed not only by the specs but the interface. It's actually very close to the stock except some cosmetic changes here and there and I'm sold. Initially I was really really leaning to get the Nexus 4 as I want to get my hands on the latest andriod version and going stock on the Nexus phone is the way to go. But the phone was made by LG (eeewwww) and no microSD slot and I can't remove the battery?? And some more no LTE? hmmm.. I can't remove the battery on the Z too but at least, it gave me water resistance so I hope Google will get Sony to develop their next generation phone.

Now besides getting a new phone. I'm also getting a new toy to explore in the NFC arena. This is really awesome. A lot of people was thinking why I need this new NFC technology when there is already Bluetooth or WiFi. And they were misled that NFC is all about using it as an e-Wallet, a form of payment gateway like our ez-link card or NETS/ Credit card transactions. That is so wrong! Sony did it right this time. They are still more creative then their Korean Samsung counterpart in this department.

Bascically you can buy cheap, programmable tags on the Net to serve as a switching device. Here's my scenario. If I need to turn on my Wi-Fi hotspot on my phone to pair with my laptop or Ipad. I need to go to settings to manually tap 2 or 3 buttons to complete the necessary action. 1st, I need to turn on my WiFi, then go to hotspot and checked on the Activeate hotspot settings. True, there are widgets out there that allows you to do that but isn't it awesome that you can just turn on your phone, scan the NFC tags and it automatically runs the pre-configured macro controls for you? Some might be a bit lost on this but watch this video.

Impressed? Well, initially I thought Apple should be the one who would have thought of this but I guess it's Sony's engineers who came up with this neat idea.

Anyway, I don't think this phone will be staying with me as my missus heard of my purchase and most likely she will be hijacking my phone again ... :S I might get another one for her.... since she's the one who always bring her phone to the toilet...

1st Kill of the year 2013

Not really killing something or someone but buying something new.  Yes.  Another lens to the arsenal:P  Some might asked how many lenses I really need but its just that this one is something I have been waiting for quite some time.

It's the new Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS!  OSS stands for Optical Steady Shot which means like Canon's IS and Nikon's VR lenses.  Sony A mount bodies has built in body AS system but their NEX doesn't (which is a pain in the ass for me!)I'm getting old and I like to have some anti shake system for some low shutter handheld shots.

Previously, I was using the 24mm Zeiss  which at 1200 2nd hand price tag does not even have OSS and I don't actually really like the fov of a focal length of 35mm.  I am more into 40mm to 50mm for a street camera so it was pretty awkward shooting with it.   I do like it's sharpness and contrasty colours but I have a tendency to crop the photos later as I was not in the correct position.  Moreover, the lens is sticking too far out from the body and its just make it very difficult for me to take it out or put it back into my camera bag.  That's a minor thing but the fov and OSS is the deal breaker. It was an impulse purchase and my gut feelings is that I will sell it some time later and I did to get back my money to fund this lens hehe.

After selling my 24mm, I do have a 35mm CV L39 lens and was using it as my default lens most of the time.  But it register a magenta cast on the corners of the photos whenever I shoot wide.  However, while using the CV, it constantly makes me more convinced to get this lens as I enjoy the fov of the 35mm.  The new lens was bought via a Bro Jame of LBJQK which I met in facebook and I received it just last saturday when it was finally released in Malaysia.  Immediately after collecting the lens I went to Garden by the bay to test it out and the inital results were very positive.  You can view the 1st series here.

I went out today on a street test with my friend Callan for a 2nd round and yes, I totally enjoyed it and it will definitely be a keeper!  Great way to start a year! :)