New shoes – Ready for City 2 Surf
So enduring a 40 or so minute wait in line at the Adidas Outlet store in Lidcome, left with a cheap pair of running shoes. Adistar Salvation 2's, bargain price of $90 down from $250.
Ready to go
Guess this makes me ready for City2Surf right? Not like you need to do training or anything 
City2Surf 2011
I've been meaning to register and do the City2Surf marathon for years! Now since CBA is paying for entries for the first 2000, I figured this year will be the year to do it.
I'd urge you all to join as well (even if you have to pay for it yourself 
) and come join me this year.
Link to registrations is here: http://www.city2surf.com.au/default.asp?PageID=17826
I'll be fundraising for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and I'll post up a donation link when I get it. If you're not running yourself, please donate to the cause 
.
2011 begins, and I’m almost there
So after this post I'll be a couple of photos from being up-to-date, but since I stopped blogging for a while until now, quite a few things have changed, I'm finally in my final semester at Uni with another two subjects to go (seriously can't wait til it's over) and in addition to that, I had started full time work. Such a drastic change from being able to laze around and bludge to getting up before 7am getting ready to catch the train every day to work. Days at work vary, some insanely hectic to others where you're not too busy. Team's been great, everyone around is heaps friendly and always willing to help out and answer questions. I won't mention the awesome start to the year, walking out of the Etihad Stadium with a huge smile on my face, if you weren't there, you wouldn't understand.
Deb's birthday wasn't too far away from the start and I was there to take a few snaps.
Next up was my man Mike's 22nd birthday. For some reason this kid decided not to have a 21st birthday but instead, opts for a large 22nd! I just don't get him sometimes, but it was a great party despite me not being able to get back in at 12 as Aurorar bar sucks and no re-entry after 12 is permitted. Cover photo is in black and white because I'm moody and all that 
.
Tang turns 22
Final set of photos to complete this post is little Yvonne's 22nd birthday, celebrated with plenty of food.
Yvn's 22nd
So just another post and I'll be good to go, apologies to those waiting for photos (if you want them quick pay me ).
Last moments of 2010
So the last days of 2010 went by rather quick, first and foremost a lunch outing with the majority of the crew that did BIT or ISM starting from 2007 (God that was a long time ago) to celebrate their final days of Uni (not me though, because i'm special). It was a nice lunch courtesy of Christine, our course coordinator who's helped us through hundreds and thousands of emails and queries. It was a a nice gathering and good to see everyone before we all parted ways.
- bitism lunch
Once back from my trip and having a few days of long away rest and sleep, it was time to be out and about again, firstly, a BBQ at Lily Tran's house to celebrate Christmas. Nothing better than spending a nice summer afternoon with friends around the BBQ with a drink or ten. No one ended up too drunk and with my fairly okay drink count, I was still quite good.
Christmas at Lily's - 2010
No summer is complete without a fishing trip of sorts, so early one morning we make the trip up to Clifton for some fishing action. There were quite a few people there already so we couldn't get prime position, but we pushed on anyway and hoped for some luck. But as you can see from my album title, it was somewhat fail, ended up catching 2.5 fish (one of them was a tiny bream). Nice thing about getting up early is catching the sunrise and I've finally done some sunrise photography.
Lovely sunrise
One of the final set of photos for the year was from my younger cousin's birthday who despite his size, is only 12.
Wilson and family
So these photos represent the final days and weeks of my 2010, but it was such a thrill being able to spend the transition into 2011 with an all night party with the number 1 DJ, Armin van Buuren. Such a great event and you really can't top seeing Armin for 9 hours straight, still remember the climatic countdown with the drummer just hammering away, almost as though he couldn't keep it up. Small glitch in the countdown but it was one hell of a night. Spent the next few days exploring a bit of Melbourne which was quite fun, but definitely gotta plan another trip down soon.
Well that wraps up 2010, I'm a step closer to getting this blog updated and getting the rest of the photos up.
FINALLY… after six months
So after almost six months of coming back from my awesome Japan trip with good friends Michael Tang, Edmond Tsui and Gavin Wa, I've finally finished writing up blog posts about what we got up to in the land of the rising sun. It's been hard to find the motivation to go through and select some photos which represented our trip but now I finally feel like I've completed my trip. The next step will be to finish going through the photos and hopefully make a photobook and add some more prints to my wall (once I'm bothered to get it re-done).
So with the blog posts about Japan out of the way, it's now time to catch up on all the other stuff I've neglected over the past six months, plenty of birthdays and outings to write about and plenty of long-awaited photos to come as well. It's been a long time, but you know what they say, better nate then lever (kudos if you get this reference).
twenty eleven
So the New Year has come and gone with spectacular style courtesy of Armin Van Buuren and his crew within his Armin Only show. What a night it was, such a shame the excessive alcohol consumption (due to abuse of the VIP drinks wristbands) meant that I don't remember much post 2am 
.
But I hope everyone had a great new years celebration whether it was with family and friends and that the new year brings something new and exciting to your life. Hope that those with resolutions can stick to them whereas I won't call them resolutions, simply just a to-do list for 2011.
This year I plan to:
- Blog more, this means finish going through my photos of Japan and blogging about the rest of my days there, despite being back for over a month.
- Gym more often, aiming for 4 days a week to shed fat and build more muscle.
- Run the City2Surf for 2011.
- Finish sorting my music collection.
- Take up DJ'ing, including purchase of CDJs and a mixer.
- Further progress my photography, i.e. get business cards made and shoot at least one wedding.
- Update my photography website and learn to code HTML/PHP/CSS more proficiently.
- Re-do my photo wall.
- Drink less but party just as hard.
- Learn to save money.
I think that's about it, don't think there's anything too unreasonable in that list so hopefully I can stick to it. As for everyone else with goals or resolutions for the new year, hope you can all stick to them.
Results of my mango pancake adventure
So, I think I did pretty well with the mango pancakes considering that I was completely clueless, but will perfect them next time we’ve got some nice mangos. Pictures are below, they could have been presented better, but here’s some evidence that I made them, haha.
1. The pancake and the filling
Final product
Other thing of interest today, the mailman finally delivered the GPS logger I had ordered, I bought the i-gotu GT-600 and the plan is to have it on with me at all times while I’m on holiday to Japan/Korea and it will log exactly where I’ve been. The purpose of this is so I can attach some location information to every single photo that I take, either allowing me to plot them on a map or simply let me go back and see where the photo was taken if I forget. Much better solution than carrying a notepad and noting down image file names and location.
One down, four to go.
So, had the first of my five final exams and I’m feeling a bit okay with it. I guess it’s not too bad considering I could only manage to get a little over two hours sleep (not because I was cramming, but I just couldn’t sleep). A couple of questions I wasn’t too sure about but I hope it’s gonna be okay.
Was planning to spend the rest of the day studying at Uni, and can you believe on a WEEEKEND, finding an empty room in the ASB is not an easy task. I was seriously expecting half the rooms to be empty, but as I walked along the first level, each room I passed had someone studying or sleeping inside (as well as the occasional stash of books and bags). Instead of making good use of a few hours at Uni, I procastinated and instead bought the lonely planet’s “Discover Japan” book and had a quick skim through it. Also tried to get a rough idea of when we’ll be where and when the best time to fly to Korea would be.
It’s been quite hectic few weeks with studying and as a result, planning for the upcoming Japan trip has been put on the backburner and I really have no idea what I want to be doing over there nor do I know much about what’s there to do.
Ultimate Ears 700
So my latest purchase has been a new set of earphones, this has been something I've been meaning to do, but this actual purchase was more on impulse than anything. I didn't do too much research on the product before buying but at $109 including delivery from thelogitechshop, I couldn't resist (RRP is $249, with the cheapest being around $185). All I knew previously was that Ultimate Ears made good earphones, whether these were any good, I would have to wait to find out.
So I gave them a somewhat decent workout at Uni yesterday and there are some very nice things about these earphones. Firstly, the Comply foam which comes with it is awesome, they're a bit weird at first, but basically they expand to mould to your ear to ensure a tight fit. With these buds, the sound isolation was very good and I found it difficult to hear what was happening outside.
In terms of sound quality, they're very good, everything is clear and in my opinion, it has a slight warmth to the sound. On initial thoughts, I found the bass to be lacking (so if you're after strong overpowering bass, these aren't for you), however giving it a bit more time, the bass is very clear and detailed. You can hear individual bass notes in the line rather than just a thump thump thump. The highs are nice, definitely not tinny nor harsh, somewhat of a 'balanced' sound.
Overall, very happy with the purchase, and considering $109 pricetag, i'd rate it an 8.5/10.
Summer, where are you?
So it's almost the end of Winter and I'm seriously craving the warm summer days with the sun shining and just being able to kick back in the outdoors. Summer also means festivals for us Aussies and I really can't wait to get out and about with the music pumping and not having a thing to worry about.
So what's with this random post? I came across a tune by Tim Berg (aka Avicii) called Bromance and it's just hit me with it's amazing breezy and airy sound. It's just create this sudden rush of emotion and memories of days and nights out where the only thing that mattered was the music. So below is the song which has inspired this post and my excitement for the summer to come.
The video clip is quite hilarious and I urge you to watch the whole thing til the end, in my opinion though the song's title and video clip are completely irrelevant to the tune itself.
So really, what I'm looking forward to is Armin Only and SummaFieldDayze for a double dose of Armin Van Buuren over the New Year period.
For sale – D90 + 18-55 + 2x8gb SD Cards!
So my beloved D90 Digital SLR needs a new home, it's served me well over the past year, but it's time to move on.
Asking for $1000 ono (picture below)
Sale package:
- D90 Body
- Nikon 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 VR Lens
- 52mm UV Filter
- Sandisk 8GB Ultra SDHC card
- Sandisk 8GB SDHC card (regular blue one)
- Lens cap
- USB Cable
- Video Out cable
- Body Cap
- Manuals
- Original software CDs
Also have a Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX lens for sale
Asking for $400 ono.
Pictures:
Last day at work
So Monday was the last day of work at Arnott's for me after working there for 7.5 months, six of which were for my co-op industrial training with the remaining assisting a major project which was about to go live after my industrial training. So, what was it like working at Arnott's? I actually found it to be good fun, all of the teams I worked with had great people who were quite fun to be around and always willing to lend a hand or offer some advice, from which I've learnt a lot. Last day at work was pretty much just a farewell with lunch and a few drinks at the obligatory Wentworth Hotel, where we seem to always have lunch when someone is leaving. Some happy snaps and clearing my desk area was the rest of the day gone, somewhat sad to leave but I must go on and start working at my next placement, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, a pharmeceuticals company.
Some keep sakes from work:
harmony mug
vodafone clock & digital picture viewer
Got up to some usless things at work, and one was 'extreme box making' where we made little boxes using paper (at first) and then anything we could get our hands on. All spawned from looking for a storage method for wasabi peas. Ended up making boxes from a plastic bag, paper towel and cardboard cutout.
extreme box making
Some photos of the people at work:
everyone from lunch
TIO crew
CST boys + Niro
few of the Service Desk crew
guys in the next cubicle
brad one of my managers
Gopi & i
cubicle on the other side
valarie and i
lee giving me a bag full of goodies
Some New Toys and Lenses
Well normally I haven't posted up anything about my camera gear or when I buy new stuff, but I think this deserves a mention as it's my first real pro grade lens. The extra income and finally being able to flog off some gear has led me to buy Nikon's AF-S 17-35mm f2.8, a hefty 4 figure sum which I won't disclose, most will say it's absurd for a lens to be worth so much.
the glorious 17-35mm
makes my d90 look tiny
Was it worth it? I must say, Hell Yes, focus is near instantenous, faster than any lens I've touched before, faster than my good mate's AF-S 28-70mm f2.8 (another pro grade lens). Is it sharp? Sharper than a knife's edge at 35mm and insanely sharp at f5.6 onwards. Picture below is a 100% crop of the centre of the frame.
sharpppp... click for bigger
It's probably one of the last lenses I'll buy for a while until I upgrade to a new body some time later in the year. So currently I shoot with:
- Nikon D90 Body
- Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f2.8
- Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX HSM
- Nikon 18-105 f3.5-5.6
- Sigma EX HSM 70-200 f2.8
- Nikon SB-900 Speedlight
The other new toy I purchased is a little point and shoot, a Canon ixus 120 IS, originally purchased so my mum would have a camera to use during her trip to Vietnam since our trusty Fuji F30 camera was tradgically killed in action by a couple of lasers at Cream (I think). The ixus is quite nice, very small and with a massive screen for something so small, does 720p video 4xoptical zoom and f2.8 at the short end, sounds alright, except for what I paid for it, $450 from JB HiFi. For that kind of money I could have had a Panasonic LX3 or Canon S90, both amazing cameras with full manual capabilities and a ton of other advance features I'm used to on my DSLR. So why the ixus? It's simple, it's small, a piece of cake to use and I was in a rush as my mum was leaving the very next day. Compared to my Fuji, it is lacking in the low light capabilities, then again any PnS these days *still* has trouble against it, having a look through some old photos, 800 ISO is still very usable and quite clean, kinda close to my old D80.
canon ixus 120 IS
Doing everything you’re not supposed to be doing…
It's Monday night, 3 days away from my one and only exam and I can't seem to focus on getting any studying done, the whole course doesn't really seem to make much sense, probably due to the incompetence of my lecturer and tutor (okay and my tendency to procastinate). Damn this whole database crap is doing my head in, functional dependencies, lossless decomposition, dependency preservation, b+ trees, joins, 4th normal form, multi valued dependencies, indexes, sparse indexes...argh I don't remember anything. Should have at least rocked up to the tutes, I think I would have at least learnt some of processes needed to answer some of the exam questions. But anyways, enough of my ranting about the stupid subject and my crappy teachers.
I'm gonna write about dinner from last night (which I made, by myself XD).
The dish? Linguine withPanfried Salmon, well in my case it was more Fettucine than Linguine. Picture of the final result below. Verdict? Fairly tasty, but not as good as my Creamy Saffron and Seafood Fettucine from the other day (unfortunately no pics).
The recipe I found from google and allrecipes.com.au and instructions/ingredients are as follows.
Another Friday…
And it's another A State of Trance by the Glorious Armin Van Buuren with episode 417 of ASOT being downloaded as we speak. This weeks track list does look interesting with a couple of big names in there like John O Callaghan, Pryda, Enya, Ronksi Speed, Activa and more. Track list is below, grab it while it's hot from your usual sources.
01. John O'Callaghan feat. Audrey Gallagher - Take It All Away (Marcus Schossow Nu Prog Remix)
02. Pryda - Waves
03. Enya - Caribbean Blue (Jody Wisternoff vs. Stuart King Bootleg Mix)
04. Mac & Mac - Solid Session (First State Remix)
05. Faruk Sabanci & Nurettin Colak - Te Quiero Mi Amor
06. Ronski Speed feat. Ana - The Deep Divine (Gareth Emery Remix)
07. Three Drives - Automatic Weapon (Orjan Nilsen Remix)
08. M.I.K.E - Sunrise At Palamos (Gareth Emery Remix)
09. Sean Tyas - I Remember Now (Sied van Riel Remix)
10. Jochen Miller - Brace Yourself
11. Arnej - There Are No Concidences
12. Activa vs Chris & Matt Kidd - U.R. (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
13. Corderoy - Kyrie
14. Jon O'Bir - Prophase
15. Gaia - Tuvan (Andy Blueman Remix) [Tune Of The Week]
16. Simon Patterson - Always
17. Ram - Ramsterdam (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix) [Future Favorite]
18. Sly One - This Late Stage (Aly & Fila Remix)
19. Ian Betts - False Gods
20. Mark Sherry & James Allan vs William Daniel - Wired
21. Robert Gitelman - Children Of The Sun [Radio Classic]
Without overshadowing another ASOT day, another set which is a MUST DOWNLOAD is Myon and Shane 54's Coldharbour Day set. These guys produced a wicked set cramming over 70 tracks in just over an hour, don't know how they do it but it sounds like one giant mashup and has great tunes everywhere.