man of the family

been staying at the new place for slightly more than half a year now.. something which i've come to realise, even b4 we've moved in here, was that from now on it's all up to us.. i mean... when we're still at our parents' place, there always someone to wash ur clothes.. clean up the table after meals.. someone to wash the pots and pans.. the floor at home is always free of dust and stains and hair.. there is always cooled boiled water for drinking bedsheets are regularly being changed (washed and dried).. the clothes are always folded and placed back into our cupboards after they're washed... gosh the list is so long...and im not done yet!

sure we've stayed in hostel b4, washed our own clothes, changed our own bedsheet and stuffs... but we dun haf to wash the toilet! there's not many dishes to wash? there always watercooler/tap to drink from?

other than the mediocure "chores" like mopping, sweeping, washing.... i also realised that we need to learn how to fix things, yes change light bulbs, remove stains, clean the fans... me, for now, and the title holder for the best sink plunger... at home that is... i've mentioned b4 (i think) that we had problem of choke kitchen sink.. now i know how it all works.. how the plunger is bein use... hey it's not use pumping with the big muscle ok... we need to know how it plunges.. u know we need to fill the sink with water b4 we can plunge effectively? and if u've those 2-bowl sink, u need to make sure the other drainer is properly covered and kept covered b4 u can start pumping? u dunno leh~~

anyway.. the worst, for now, has come... the toilet bowl is choked!! and how do we know....? of course after we're done with the biz, we need to flush... and the water level juz got higher and higher.. damn.. at 1st , being the title-holder for sink plunger, i tried clearing it with the sink plunger.. but as u probably know, the size doesn't fit verywell.. and as i pump, with force and speed, i got splashed!! eeeww... anyway after much trying, it didn't work... so decided that we need to go out to the self-fix shop to find something that fits.. found sth like a corkscrew, except that it's 15 meter long and looks more like a coiled spring.. bought it.. but it's not useful at all! the end keep getting stuck becoz of the coil.. like it's hooked onto the edges or sth... my hand need to go underneathe the water to unhook it.. (luckily im not usually an OCD person).. and lots of times the spring juz gathered as a coiled mess in one corner instead of having the whole length into the pipe.. after some 30min of trying, we switched back to the plunger, this time round i stuck the whole plunger head into the bowl so that there's no gap at the side, being slightly smarter this time round, i had the bowl lid half closed =)... i juz kept pumping and pumping and pumping... and i tried flushing... yes it's cleared!! yeees!!!

and there u haf it, i now hold another title... the champion toilet bowl plunger!

after the whole ordeal.. yb gave a kiss on the lips and said...
"Happy Fathers' Day dear!"

occasional inspiration

borrowed this book from the library "Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography".. Author's Brenda Tharp, quite a famous photographer who won awards and published in some lots well-known magazines...

from one of her interviews:
"If you're standing on the sidelines, your pictures are going to look like you stood on the sidelines. If you're walking amongst those stalls in the fish market, you're smelling the fish, and you're getting the close-up views of all these different fish, then I'm going to feel that when I look at your picture -- like I was there."



came across "Afghan Girl" in one of my reads recently (actually i cant remember from where and when did i read this), but i chanced upon it again while doing one of my surf on a local photography forum.. googled it, it brought me to this guy called Steve McCurry.. and Afghan Girl being his most famous picture he took back in 1980's and published on the Nat Geo in 1985... i went thru some of his galleries.... it really made me wonder if i could do this.. travel the world, not as a tourist, but as a photojournalist (i need to really really buck up on my writing and expression if so!).. seriously being with a family, probably it's a bit difficult, but not absolutely impossible... IF, i can let go of the stability of my home, finance (?), comfort.... AND IF they can come along with me...



anyway... just inspiring.... *daydreams..*

weekend @ work and monday off

needed to come in on Sat for a study last week, hey im not complaining! got a monday off! (which i stayed at home coz it's not my forte to bring Jan out singlehandedly ) hehe... yes yes lucky it's not expected for me to work on a Sat...

and the 2 ladies in the family tagged along as well...


waiting too long for mummy


Mummy i hungry....


yes girl u want something.....?


home-cooked chicken rice (cheated, bought chix rice paste)


some cleaning up at home on my off day


looked like a housefly actually...


almost skiing... she got pulled along by the housefly!


and the housefly crashed....

Father(-in-law)'s (Birth)Day

splurged and went to this quite posh restaurant, IMO, Peony Jade along Clarke Quay... Slightly costly, came up to abt $40/pax.. food was not bad, ala carte buffet... we ordered quite a variety of things la.. but later in the evening got so occupied with Jan that i juz stopped snapping...

she got tired of the baby high-chair

Some of the things we had

with Mummy (quite alike hor?)

everyone who's there

God knows where she got her genes from..

on my way home

i dun usually carry my dslr with me everywhere i go, i juz happened to have it with me ytd as i was prepared to purchase a 2ndhand lens (body for lens testing), but ended up i din, well that's a whole separate story altogether. i was on the bus to my mother-in-law's place for dinner then i decided to snap along the rest of the journey there...

at the back of the bus

top news

uncle waiting for bus

nice view out the window?

updates

2 mths since my last entry.. so many times i wanted to post sth, anything, but sth else will come up.. like.... erm.... like...... hmmm

anyway, was away for 2-3 weeks in the last mth, overseas... taiwan with family for 10 days, and thailand for another 9 with colleagues (and wifey), for work... somehow holidays feel different now, wss it because i was travelling with my mum and my baby? was it because i was traveling with colleagues (i mean seein ur colleagues everyday during a trip, and back at work the following day feels kinda wierd) ?

anyhows, been venturing more into phototaking these days, i've cut down lots on rubbish snapping, and getting more pointers from friends and books, and online albums... i'll say im slightly more focus now? slowing knowing wad kind of lenses line-up im going towards now...(HL was saying, he didn't know what he want, so he nv buy... i also dunno wad i wan yet, so i buy everything! *faint*)

i need to get my butt out to exercise.... soon... been slacking... haven't been running since.... when huh... the last time i had that serious backache.. it still comes and go now, esp if i was out the whole day with family, means i'll be carryin Jan, or bending down and chasing while she starts her occasional run (she trips all the time!), i shld start cycling again...

my house? erm... paid in full liao... but my lightings are not completely installed yet... that's juz because we keep pushing back shopping for out bedroom foyer and dining lights... anyway finally got them! now just waiting for my contractor to fnd time to install them for me... and also to check some wirings at home... my oven trips the whole house.....

finally, janielle... she's juz turned 17 mth.. walking, toddling, running now.. blabbers a lot.. we're able to maintain a decent conversation now, juz between the 2 of us... hey i really understand her! for eg, there was once she stopped me from going out of her bedroom, by gesturing and saying "er!" and pointing to her lips... i knew she wanted a gdnight kiss! (actually i din, till i squatted down and she started leaning towards my face).. cute!

and she's feeding herself, she loves that and it keeps her at the dining table.. but that'll mean that mummy gotta lay newspaper all ard her highchair and some upscale cleaning up after..