shutterbugISm

Via email from Ms Snooze -

Subject: Loan Sharks in Singapore support opening of casino

Singapore's loan shark industry openly backed the proposal to build A
casino yesterday, saying it would contribute greatly to their growth.

Association of Hardship Loan Operators and Neighbourhood Gangsters (AH
LONG) spokesman Dr. Chao Ah Beng told the Ministry of Finance today that
the loan shark industry would benefit tremendously from the setting up of a
casino.

"We know the Gahmen say the casino will bring in tax revenue lah, employ
people lah, bring in money that is lost to Genting Highlands and casino
cruises, lah, all that sort of thing," said Dr. Chao, "But it din'ch
realize the casino will also boost our industry, which is another good
reason for setting it up."

Dr. Chao, who lectures in money-laundering and grievous bodily harm At Hoot
U, the Geylang-based tertiary institution for bengs and lians, said the
casino would enable the loan shark industry to diversify and upgrade its
existing line of products.

"Last time, we all lend people money to pay off their gambling debts," he
explained. "Now, with the casino, we can also offer them high interest
loans to afford to pay the entry fee to get into the casino in the first
place."

Dr. Chao also predicted a rise in their traditional service of debt
recovery. "I would definitely invest in pork futures. With more gamblers,
it makes sense that there will be more debtors, and a corresponding surge
in demand for pig's heads."

Dr. Chao, who also pens an occasional advice column for Talking****.com,
also announced that Hoot U hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding with
the proposed casino. "The casino sure need bouncers to keep the riff-raff
out, ah lians to attract the high rollers, heavies to hoot cheaterbugs,
that sort of thing, and Hoot U is the region's premier producer for
manpower in these sectors. So we hope to establish an internship
on-the-job-training programme."

In other casino-related news, legendary Las Vegas casino operator Harrah's
has announced that it will be changing its name to "Harry's" in order to
improve its bidding prospects for the Singapore project.

Posted by ShutterBug at 15:46 | Permalink | Comments 0

Just have to share this funny entry from Jemej's

Received this from a colleague this morning:

So I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil Show, you too can find inner peace.

Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning I finished off the small bottle of White Zinfandel, another bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a sample pack of of Kalhula, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

Please pass this on to share with those whom you think might be in need of inner peace.

Have a sane week ahead....

Hmm... looks like I need to finish off that bottle of Sheridan in my fridge to get started on my inner peace.... then the Kahlua, the countless bottles of red wine that had been stocking up in Ms Clover's place, maybe those blocks of nutty chocolates also... I think I will most certainly attain the ultimate state of euphoria after that... ^.^

Labels: Humor, Ranting

Posted by ShutterBug at 16:58 | Permalink | Comments 2

It's a wonderful Sunday morning... wonderful weather, perfect place @ One Rochester for a superb breakfast and in the company of great friends like dR & MM :)

I'm really honored that I am still taking photos of them even after their wedding last year, now that they are expecting their 1st child, I am very happy that I can give them everlasting memories thru photography on the beauty of pregnancy.

Labels: Brides, Friends, Grooms, Images, Local, Photography, Pregnancy, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 17:27 | Permalink | Comments 11

Last year's July, I have taken some pregnancy pics of dR + MM @ One Rochester before lil' Sniffles was born and it's been 09 months since then....

Since she has shared the pictures on FB recently, I will post some of my fav. shots here as well :)




Whenever I look through this set of photos, I feel very privileged and blessed to play a small part in their life, to document their beautiful wedding then and now, this family moment :)

Now that lil' Sniffles is starting to grow up, I am definitely hoping to take some shots of her.. hehehe, maybe in NYC? hahah...

Labels: BnW, Brides, Grooms, Images, Inspirations, Local, Photography, Pregnancy, Thoughts

Posted by ShutterBug at 18:02 | Permalink | Comments 4

Your EQ is

113 50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick! 51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese. 71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely. 91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that. 111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt. 131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin. 150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

Posted by ShutterBug at 18:28 | Permalink | Comments 0

So sorry for not blogging consistently these days.. really busy with some corporate works as well my missus has fallen ill this week.

So far, a summary of the past week has been great with some impromptu meet-ups like a Kuriya Buckwheat Soba birthday lunch with Char Siu Pau last week and a birthday golf range session with CY on Sat morning... hehehe... and yes, I have gotten both CY and Ms Clover on board the golf interest :D Also, we visited Starsapphire and lil' Claire at her place.. aiyoh, the little princess is so cute.. very delicate features and amazingly long digits - natural born musician!

Monday night was a gathering @ Yveon's with dR + Kayla, Mr & Mrs Silver CRV + Edgar and of coz, the hosts + lil' Nat over indian food. The babies are so interesting to observe as they interact with each other. Here's the accounts by the generous hosts - Lil' Miss Snooze and Lil Nat (written by Teh Peng)

Yesterday was an interesting one.. I signed myself up for a Le Petite Portraiture session with Shin who is with ThePond Photography. Since I missed out the onedone by Ngiap Heng the last time, I can't miss out this out coz it's a great reflective experience for me as well as to get some nice portraits done by an award-winning photographer like Shin.

Needless to say, I totally enjoyed myself coz Shin is really easy to conversate with and Alfred was very entertaining. The experience in front of the lens also gave me a few insights into how my subjects feel whenever I shoot them, frankly I am most comfortable hiding behind the camera but now that I'm in front of it, it feels totally different :D

Anyway, the main gist of this blog - SY & WM's wedding.

When SY announced her marriage plans some time back, I was a little taken by surprise. I mean, this young lady whom I've known for the past 8 years is getting married! Wow... time flies when she was just this quiet little girl in the Youth ministry and suddenly, she is already getting married... (stark reminder of how old I'm becoming also :p )

She has gotten Tehpeng to shoot her wedding while I decided to play the busybody and shoot some off-shots for myself. Frankly I relish the opportunity to shoot as 2nd photographer sometimes coz there's no obligations, no hassle and I shoot whatever I really want and how I want it. So I decided to cover the entire church ceremony portion with my 5D set to monochrome and shooting in available light - it was pretty fun and kinda surreal coz this is my church and most of the people attending the wedding are familiar to me.. hehehe....

Here's some shots to share:

Labels: BnW, Brides, Celebrations, Friends, Images, Inspirations, Local, Photography, Thoughts, Weddings

Posted by ShutterBug at 18:50 | Permalink | Comments 6

Wow... can't believe I kinda missed blogging. I know I have been lazy the past 2 months to blog anything substantial but here's one to make it all up (or at least some of it)

* Pardon me if I get spelling errors coz I am experiencing a little reeling from the cocktail of alcohol I had just now in Char Siu Bao's place... (I never knew a welcome roulette of 1 shot of Vodka neat, 1 glass of red wine, 1 small glass of Hennessey Blue and 1 shot of hazelnut favored vodka can be that potent after 1 hour..)

So where do I begin....

Well, the past month I have been in buried under the mountain of backlogs, self-doubts and headaches. I am glad and blessed to have friends that I can talk to for advice as well as for emotional support when I really needed them. Some things really needed to be viewed from the sideline to see the silverlining I guess. Well, like in my previous post here, I will pray for God's timing and guidance for the solution and then the wisdom to take the right actions when He prompts.

So the happier stuff have been plentiful this beginning of the Lunar New Year. First off was the gathering of 4 babies @ Yveon's loft. Actually the plan was to meet dR and the adorable lil' Sniffles, before their big move to USA, somewhere in town but since it's really difficult for a mummy to have to carry so many things and looking after a baby as well as the inconvenient lack of nursing rooms in town areas, we decided to meet up @ Yveon's loft since the 2 lil' babies (dun forget about Lil' Nat) had a playtime gathering there the other time. This time round, I got along Su Ling, Vitali & lil' Vera as well as Sparkletots and lil' Jayden to make it a wholesome gathering.


I was rather amused at myself for organising this gathering coz it's just so coincidental that I know all 4 mummies (mainly through photography) and all 4 of them have babies around the same age group... so it was a 2 lil' girls and 2 lil' boys' playdate while the parents ate and got to know each other better thru the evening. Overall, it was a good networking session for everyone and I want to thank Lil Miss Snooze and TehPeng for graciously hosting the dinner @ their loft as well as to everyone who came :)

This year's reunion dinner with both side families were earlier than usual: my side had it on the 5th Feb night while Ms Clover's side was on the 6th Feb afternoon BUT it was held at the same place: One*15 Marina's Imperial Treasure restaurant. So you can imagine both Ms Clover and me ate almost the same dishes just 18 hours apart! :D

I'm definitely not complaining coz the food is really EXCELLENT! Service is, of coz', top-notch but the delicate cantonese styled cooking makes a lot of difference compared to eating at other restaurants. Sorry, I didn't take any photos coz I was too busy with the food but here's one to share:

CNY celebrations this years marked a significant milestone for both Ms Clover and myself coz this is, afterall, the 1st year we celebrate CNY as a state-recognised 'married' couple (why I used the term 'state-recognised' is that I feel that it's still not really complete without the customary, then I'm really finished....... j/king :p)

As usual, I stayed up the whole night on the eve of CNY to 'shou swee' or 守岁 which is a custom to me every year during CNY. Visitation only started @ 1pm on Day 1 with my parents then to Ms Clover's place where I spent the rest of the afternoon and night with their relatives and playing mahjong.. Seems that this year's not really my year on the gambling side coz I am down by $70 plus after 3 nights of mahjong and Texas Hold'em.. sianz... the tiles that came along were atrociously bad and even after I managed to make them good, I was constantly 'robbed' of the chance to game by someone else...

Must eat more cheese to attract the mouse liao...

Went over to Ms Clover's boss's home also... really nice place set in the quiet surrounds of Yio Chu Kang road's private housing district. Was introduced to her working colleagues and we had a grand time exploring their place which was decorated in a East Asian Contemporary style. Ohh, the well-travelled hostress introduced us to this fantastic gourmet wholesaler called Foodedge Gourmet where they have this really YUMZ tasting choco brownies! The brownies are not overpoweringly sweet and have a healthy dose of orange peel zest to give it a very different texture to the taste palate.. very worth trying! I would recommend also the ice cream selections from Melvados there also! Combine them together and you are on the way to cloud 9!

So back to today's event. We spent Sunday afternoon @ Char Siu Bao's place in the East, together with Xiao Long Bao, Martini and family and long-time-no-see K and her Aussie boyfriend, A.... and my dear friend welcomed me with a refreshing but lethal neat shot of Absolut Vodka (the rest of the drinks are @ the top of the blog entry) coz we were really late as we had a last minute visitor over @ Ms Clover's.

Played with lil' Siu Mai who has really grown up a lot and now can babble words and run around and recognise pictures with their meanings and pronunciations.... and so this 'Unker' Shutterbug played with her almost the whole duration of our visitation while 'Yiyi' Clover sat amused by her other half's silly antics and baby talk while sharing travel tips to Bali with Mrs Lian Rong Bao.

Well, think I have written enough, almost condensing 1 month worth of blogging into a short entry here.

Here's wishing everyone Gong Hei Fatt Choy, Blessed Prosperity and Good health during this festive season and for the year of the cute mouse :D

Huat ahh!! :D

Labels: Celebrations, Clover, Family, Food, Friends, Greetings, Images, Inspirations, Local, Photography, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 19:58 | Permalink | Comments 9

hehehe... got this off dR & MM's blog


click for larger version - that crazed expression

Pig analogy - try it for yourself here

Labels: Humor, Ranting

Posted by ShutterBug at 23:16 | Permalink | Comments 0

Today has really been an incredible day... Thank you Lord for Your mercy that I was late for Sunday band practice but in turn prevented a bad accident from worsening.

Ms Clover had a fainting spell this morning after she complained of an extremely painful tummyache. I was very thankful that I was late for church band practice coz if I had step out of the house on schedule, she would have fainted in the house with no one around to help - the risk of hurting her head when she fainted can really be severe if I hadn't noticed that she was looking a little weird and non-responsive to my repeated callings. She went limp with her pupils dilated and her lips went pale. As she is slightly anemic, I suspected a sudden drop in blood pressure so I had to quickly make sure she is in a recovery position and making sure the nothing is affecting her heart or breathing.

Thank You Lord for the fact that my mum trained me well since young to know what to do and act calmly in times of medical emergency coz she herself was a senior nurse in SGH before moving on to be a clinic manager in Mount Elizabeth.

After making sure that she was alright (the loss of consciousness was very brief like 20 seconds but she has no recollections of me yelling at her for a response or how she pass out), she came to and we quickly assessed the situation and thought it best to go to a hospital to check it out coz this fainting is a very strange and isolated case .

Throughout the journey to TTSH, I was giving thanks to God in my heart for His saving grace and mercy. Had I went out of the house earlier, it would really be disasterous and God knows what will really be the outcome. God is watching over Ms Clover and over us.

The hospital side has no conclusive results except attributing it to be an isolated case but has referred Ms Clover for a followup with a Colon Specialist next week to see if there's any adnormalities in her gastro/ colon that caused that severe tummyache that made her faint in the 1st place.

I'm just glad and relieved that she is now okie with no major complications from this episode although I was a little shaken by it as it was so sudden. Had I not been there, I will really be feeling bad if anything happened to her....

Labels: Clover, Family, Friends, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 00:25 | Permalink | Comments 9

Time for a change.

There's so many things that will be happening in the next 2-3 months as I'm re-organising my online portfolio for the new website.

dR mentioned to me that my current website doesn't really show an update of my portfolio so it's really time to update it and seeing all my peers' revamped websites, it is heartening to know that everyone's heading up for improvements and new heights in photography.

Let's get cracking.

Labels: Business, Inspirations, Photography, Thoughts

Posted by ShutterBug at 23:41 | Permalink | Comments 0

08:07:07 - Sunday

We had it all covered today -

1) Splendid breakie with dR & MM @ One Rochester,
2) Heartwarming birthday luncheon with the Bao family @ Ema's Diner (Greenwood Ave)
3) Family time with a filling chilli crab dinner @ my mum's place

We are so going on a diet.....


* more photos later :)

Labels: Celebrations, Family, Food, Friends, Local, RICOH GrD, Thoughts, Us

Posted by ShutterBug at 00:56 | Permalink | Comments 0

Yupz, as promised, after a short hiatus from bloggin to concentrate on work... I have slowly eased myself back to ranting on the internet. Although I have cleared 1/2 of the work already (the pressure is still on), I think I have to look into my time as well as stress management tactics...

Nowsadays, I dread to go home to face my computers... a bad thing coz mine's a home office.. so if you don't want to go home or the office, where do you go? Well, I park myself in some cafes these days, just writing Xmas cards and making plans for the future.. takes my mind away from the robotic routine of sitting in front of the com and look at the shots to be edited.

I wonder sometimes: do I want to be the quality photographer or the fast food photographer... sigh...

anyway, just to keep the ball rolling, here's one shot from DR & MM's wedding which I like:


* click for a larger version *

It's a very simple shot, yes.. but I don't know why it speaks to me the longer I look at it. I think the form, the emotional feel and the beauty of the bride just blends nicely in this shot... I dun think this shot will work so well in monotones as compared to this colored version. Will post more moment shots later on...

Well, this again is one of the most enjoyable weddings I have shot this year round

okie... back to editing...

Labels: Brides, Friends, Local, Weddings

Posted by ShutterBug at 02:58 | Permalink | Comments 5

The University of Blogging Presents to Shutterbug An Honorary Bachelor of Cheesey Memes Majoring in Babbling Signed Dr. GoQuiz.com �

Username:

Blogging Degree
From Go-Quiz.com

Posted by ShutterBug at 00:22 | Permalink | Comments 1

Not a habitual early riser but yet again, I woke up @ 7am plus on my own despite sleeping @ 3.30am last night.

Try as I might but I just couldn't get back to dreamland anymore.. so after loitering on the bed for another 15 mins, decided to get up for certain. Perhaps can catch a nap in the afternoon when I finished my work.

The weather today - outlook's bright and sunny, can feel the heat creeping into my bedroom... can't turn on the aircon also coz I've got a sensitive throat and nose in the morning. Well, for once, I felt kinda in a dilemma on whether to go finish my work (yes, still working on the Onward Soldiers magazine graphics) and then take the weekend off to settle a calendar project I've been thinking about for the past week OR to just dive right back into bed and snooze till I'm happy. Afterall, one should get at least 6 - 8 hours of proper sleep to stay healthy... I.. heh .. tend to take more than that.....

Guess in the end, I decided to get up and go boot up my computers and think about how to go about scheduling the day's work. Picked up the Straits Times and was browsing through some of the headlines:

1) Chicken Genes share traits with human genes (ST World | 29)

NEW YORK - HERE is something to ponder when you bite into your next chicken wing: A new study says about 60 per cent of the genes in the critter you are eating have close cousins in your own DNA.

In fact, the deciphered chicken genome should prove a valuable tool for learning about the human version, researchers say in their first detailed analysis of the genome.

The work was presented by an international team of scientists in yesterday's issue of the journal Nature.

The chicken's genome is the first from a bird to be 'sequenced', which means scientists identified the one billion letters of its DNA code. That job was completed and the results made available this year.

In fact, the new analysis revealed that people have genes related to chicken genes for eggshell proteins, which evidently play a role in bone formation.

Dr Richard Wilson of the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said the chicken genome may also help scientists learn about bird flu. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS

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So.... does that mean we are now related to a chicken as well?



2) Something about Bishan estate (ST Home | 22)

Dec 10, 2004
Rising from the ashes

As the high-rises of Bishan went up, the population went down. Today, Bishan's 68,000 residents live where 100,000 graves once were - something few people born after the 1970s know about.

This old picture (left), taken in 1979, is one of the last photographs of the area before it was developed to become the bustling Housing Board township we see today (below), with its schools and suburban malls, homes and families.

Before it was developed, the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Teng cemetery was meant for early immigrants.


Founded in 1870 by immigrants from Guangdong province in China, it was one of the biggest and oldest burial grounds on the island.

Kwong Wai Siew refers to three prefectures in Guangdong province - Kwong Fu, Wai Chow Fu and Siew Hing Fu - the founders of the cemetery hailed from. Peck San Teng translates, literally, as 'Bishan pavilion'.

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Now you know why Singapore Ghost stories like to write about Bishan's late night train rides or the amount of 'sightings' during the Chinese 7th month. But I'm still wondering about Bishan being 'advertised' as a hip estate to live in - okie, it's really convenient to get around from or to Bishan, there's J8 (ohh, a new apple shop has opened there! yippee!!) and with its new extension, seems to make the appeal to stay in Bishan even more comtemplatable. A lot of events were held there (mega stars going there to do promotions - check out Lil'Ms Snooze's blog on an Andy Lau's appearance @ J8 last night (Images by Teh Peng, who doesn't have a blog..... yet) so who minds the paranormal once in a while...




3) Handphone woes (ST Forums | 25)

Dec 10, 2004
It's no joke to fork out $2 for a joke each day

MY DAUGHTER recently saw an advertisement on TV about dialing a certain number to receive jokes via SMS. It costs $2 per joke. She thought it was a one-time affair but it was not.

It's no joke to fork out $2 for a joke each day

The jokes kept coming, one per day. She tried to stop the service by replying to the SMS but they kept coming.

After more than two weeks, she told me about the matter. I called SingTel and was informed that as she had subscribed to the service, she was liable to pay for all the jokes received, totalling $30. I was provided a number to call to terminate the service.

If a subscriber finds a joke funny and is willing to pay another $2 for the next, there is no issue. But it should not be assumed that he has signed on for good.

Tan Chin Hwee

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The joke's on you lady :D


Well, here's the morning news for ya! Time for me to work

Posted by ShutterBug at 07:56 | Permalink | Comments 0