Was viewing through some of the DVD titles in Amazon (well, was there to check the delivery of the current order, coz in Hawaii) and Voyagers! TV series came up on the recommendation list... That brought back a lot of memories... It also reminded me that I was a TV kid, when I was young...
You see, I don't get to be out of the flat that much when I was younger. It's school, straight back to home, and then that's it. The only time I do get out is during holidays, and even then, it was rare... Heck, even when we go over to Penang, it was basically the same thing... Mother gets to go out, me and my cousins had to stay at home... Sigh...
Anyway, because of this, I believed I watched a lot of TV, once we had one in the house. The first few shows that I could recall, was Long Ranger, Green Hornet (yes, the one which Bruce Lee acted as Kato, the sidekick of Green Hornet), Maverick, Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, The Saint, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and, of course, Donny & Marie Osmond Show... There were also the old tv series for Superman and Batman which was from the 60s, the everlasting Sesame Street and Electric Company, Six Million Dollar Man, the spin-off Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Hawaii Five-O, Incredible Hulk, Love Boat, M*A*S*H, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Man from Atlantis, CHiPs, Charlie's Angels, Return of the Saint, S.W.A.T (I am sure I had watch this, but it's a little fuzzy...) and Battlestar Galactica.
During that time there were also some other famous TV shows which I did not caught on - Bewitched, Dallas, Bonanza, Days of our Lives (which is still running!!!), The Dukes of Hazzard, Eight is Enough, The Young and the Restless (still running!!!), General Hospital (is running as well!!!), Happy Days which I watch from time to time, I Dream of Jennie, The Jeffersons, Knots Landing, Kung Fu, Lassie, Laverne and Shirley, Little House of the Prairie, The New Andy Griffith Show, Diff'rent Strokes - remember Gary Coleman?, Planet of the Apes, Starsky and Hutch, Mork & Mindy (remember the greetings "Na-Nu Na-Nu"? This is a spin-off from Happy Days!?!?) and Taxi.
Then it was the 80s, which some of the above series were still running, but more were added to the mix, The A-team (who can forget Mr T?), Cagney & Lacey, B.J. and the Bear, Doogie Howser M.D., The Equalizer, Falcon Crest, Family Ties, Galactica 1980 (spin-off from Battlestar Galactica), The Greatest American Hero, Growing Pains, Hardcastle & Mccormick, Hill Street Blue (1 or 2 seasons only), Hunter, L.A. Law, MacGyver (1 or 2 seasons only), Major Dad, Moonlighting, Murder She Wrote, Murphy Brown, Riptide, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Silver Spoon, Simon & Simon, T.J. Hooker, Tour of Duty, and The Wonder Years. There were a couple of shows which lasted, at most, 1 season - Mission: Impossible (1988), Whiz Kids, Voyagers!, Three's a Crowd, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Street Hawk, Supercarrier, Masquerade, Manimal, The Highwayman, Cover Up, Blue Thunder and Automan. Anyone remember these at all?
At that time, there some which were quite famous then, but not catch my fancy, although I do watch from time to time... 21 Jump Street, The Bold and the Beautiful (still running), The Cosby Show, its spin-off A Different World, Dynasty, its spin-off The Colbys, Fame, Full House, Highway to Heaven, Hotel, Knight Rider, Magnum PI, Married with Children, Matlock, Miami Vice, Mike Hammer (Stacy Keach), Midnight Caller, Mr Belvedere, My Two Dads, 9 to 5, Perfect Stranger, Private Benjamin, Quantum Leap, Remington Steele, Santa Barbara, Seinfield (yes, it started in 1989!), Spenser for Hire, Small Wonder, St Elsewhere, Webster, Who's the Boss? and Wiseguy.
Then it was 90s, which tapped down my watching as it's no longer school days, and time is no longer on hand to watch, except in the night. There were some notable ones, but well, it's not really a lot. Started with Beverly Hills 90210, its spin-off Melrose Place, Babylon 5 (but all these lost interest after a while), Viper, Pensacola: Wings of Gold (off and on, since it's via cable tv), Sex and the City, and JAG. Well, even for JAG, was too busy to follow after 1 or 2 season.
Now, in the 2000s, I think the TV watching habit had died. Most of the time, I am not even in front of the TV, and if I do, it's either for a football match or CSI series. Of course, if I am traveling, chances are I would have TV in front of me, which means, I would watch, other than CSI series, NCIS, Numb3rs and Cold Cases (I think that's what is is called... Not sure). Hmm... Now that's listed, very focus group of shows...
Ok, it's official, I was a TV show junkie... Don't get me started on the Chinese/Cantonese Drama serials that I had to endure during the period too! Yes, I was a "balanced" kid!
Hmm... Should I get that DVD...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sigh... What to do....
Been feeling frustrated lately at work, and getting questions like "Does the workstation (as in computer) needs graphics card?" does not do very well, especially if the person has been in the industry and was working in IT department before joining this company...
Frustration comes in 2 areas. One is that you have spend a lot of time working to creating materials, which contain almost your entire knowledge of the system (and since you are supporting more than 1 products, you would refer to it when necessary, which is why it was created in the first place - to ensure no knowledge is lost due to too many products). You place it out there and even encourage those who has to be involved, and has to follow what is in the materials, to download it and go through it. Well, they did download it, they follow it blindly and not even understanding what they are doing, and then when things goes wrong, without even referring back to the materials, start sending emails and throw the issue into your hands, or starting bugging you on the phone... When you look at it, it was already clearly stated and noted in the materials that you need to do certain steps and when you start asking if they refer to it, they say "no"! "Why not!?!?" Silence received, if not an excuse of "might have missed out"...
The other would be some work attitude towards the projects... I mean, if you are task to do something, you won't do it 3/4 way and then, ask someone else, who by the way is working on other aspects of the project and is not technically trained, to check it?!? You would make sure it's working fine, at least you had witness and make sure it's working before passing it onto the other person, right?!?!?! No?!!? Well, I had people who would work half way, did not even bother to check if it is correct, especially when the steps and what to take note is in the emails, and then just ask someone to check if it is working... Maybe he is overwhelmed with work, but then again who isn't?!?!?! And if you are overwhelm, all the more you should prioritized and ensure each job is finished before moving to the next! Work with your boss to ensure a smooth transition from 1 job to the other. I am certain your boss is not expecting you to do one job with left hand and another job with the right! If your boss do expect this... I think it's time to talk to him or leave... There is no way you can survive with this kind of demands...
The other frustration comes that while the company emphasis on customer satisfaction, and wanting to be the first to come to people's mind when they want to get a system, it counteracts with the other end of the company's emphasis - $$$$ and it's not just small margins of profits and growth, but huge ones. It can be come oxymoron as how can you sell something and promise to hit a target date, when internally you know you can't; and yet obtain high customer satisfaction?!?!? Especially if the end users of your system is not your customer?!?!? And to hit that target date, you remove all buffers, telling customer that there will be no customization, which basically means "you follow our work flow, not yours"?!?! Do you think that the end users will agree to that? Well, apparently the end users have not even been given that information as yet. So... I wonder... Do they think the end users would just go along with it? I know for a fact that in some sites, with demanding end users, this will ultimately fail. Do you really want to risk it? But of course, what do I know, I am lowly employee, and to some I am not working to contribute to the "bottom line" because of such questions that I raised...
So, now what?! Well, it becomes a ho-hum job, which you start to dread going into the office, because of such situations, and also getting those unbelievable questions... Oh, yes I did voiced out during my review of last year with my boss recently... I think this is the 1st time he is getting whack with all kinds of frustrations we (me and my colleagues in the same team) are having... Although I have to say, I think mine would be the mildest... Being in the same office, he can heard my loud rants at times - Yes, I do that often especially recently, and I think my office colleagues are used to it, although it can be rather intimidating for those new ones...
However, with the turn of the economy, with US having issues with sub-prime mortgage and credit crunch, and the rising cost of commodities like oil and even basic necessities like rice... Is this a good time to change jobs?
Come to think of it... I seems to be looking to change jobs in such environment... Got retrenched once when economy turns bad, and then at height of SARS period got into another job, and now, it looks like economy is also getting bad and here I am starting to look for job opportunities... Something is not very right... But I cannot put a finger to it...
Sigh...
Frustration comes in 2 areas. One is that you have spend a lot of time working to creating materials, which contain almost your entire knowledge of the system (and since you are supporting more than 1 products, you would refer to it when necessary, which is why it was created in the first place - to ensure no knowledge is lost due to too many products). You place it out there and even encourage those who has to be involved, and has to follow what is in the materials, to download it and go through it. Well, they did download it, they follow it blindly and not even understanding what they are doing, and then when things goes wrong, without even referring back to the materials, start sending emails and throw the issue into your hands, or starting bugging you on the phone... When you look at it, it was already clearly stated and noted in the materials that you need to do certain steps and when you start asking if they refer to it, they say "no"! "Why not!?!?" Silence received, if not an excuse of "might have missed out"...
The other would be some work attitude towards the projects... I mean, if you are task to do something, you won't do it 3/4 way and then, ask someone else, who by the way is working on other aspects of the project and is not technically trained, to check it?!? You would make sure it's working fine, at least you had witness and make sure it's working before passing it onto the other person, right?!?!?! No?!!? Well, I had people who would work half way, did not even bother to check if it is correct, especially when the steps and what to take note is in the emails, and then just ask someone to check if it is working... Maybe he is overwhelmed with work, but then again who isn't?!?!?! And if you are overwhelm, all the more you should prioritized and ensure each job is finished before moving to the next! Work with your boss to ensure a smooth transition from 1 job to the other. I am certain your boss is not expecting you to do one job with left hand and another job with the right! If your boss do expect this... I think it's time to talk to him or leave... There is no way you can survive with this kind of demands...
The other frustration comes that while the company emphasis on customer satisfaction, and wanting to be the first to come to people's mind when they want to get a system, it counteracts with the other end of the company's emphasis - $$$$ and it's not just small margins of profits and growth, but huge ones. It can be come oxymoron as how can you sell something and promise to hit a target date, when internally you know you can't; and yet obtain high customer satisfaction?!?!? Especially if the end users of your system is not your customer?!?!? And to hit that target date, you remove all buffers, telling customer that there will be no customization, which basically means "you follow our work flow, not yours"?!?! Do you think that the end users will agree to that? Well, apparently the end users have not even been given that information as yet. So... I wonder... Do they think the end users would just go along with it? I know for a fact that in some sites, with demanding end users, this will ultimately fail. Do you really want to risk it? But of course, what do I know, I am lowly employee, and to some I am not working to contribute to the "bottom line" because of such questions that I raised...
So, now what?! Well, it becomes a ho-hum job, which you start to dread going into the office, because of such situations, and also getting those unbelievable questions... Oh, yes I did voiced out during my review of last year with my boss recently... I think this is the 1st time he is getting whack with all kinds of frustrations we (me and my colleagues in the same team) are having... Although I have to say, I think mine would be the mildest... Being in the same office, he can heard my loud rants at times - Yes, I do that often especially recently, and I think my office colleagues are used to it, although it can be rather intimidating for those new ones...
However, with the turn of the economy, with US having issues with sub-prime mortgage and credit crunch, and the rising cost of commodities like oil and even basic necessities like rice... Is this a good time to change jobs?
Come to think of it... I seems to be looking to change jobs in such environment... Got retrenched once when economy turns bad, and then at height of SARS period got into another job, and now, it looks like economy is also getting bad and here I am starting to look for job opportunities... Something is not very right... But I cannot put a finger to it...
Sigh...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Old Trafford Mar-Apr 2008
Saving the best for the last... Yes, the main point, and the reason why this trip was planned, was watching a match at Old Trafford. Of course, it could be done any time in the future, however, since my cousin would like to watch a match before Giggs retires, it would have to be before his contract ends at the end of next season.
We started to follow the fortunes of the club when Bryan Robson was the captain of the team. I believe it was back in the early 80s, in fact it would have to be before the 1986 infamous "Hand of God" goal in the World Cup, that we got into football, and I guess the only person we knew then was Bryan Robson, and the team he was playing for was Manchester United. So, that's how we started... Me and me cousins, 3 of us, became MU supporters. Will we were not fanatic followers like some, but I think we would be term as true blue supporter as we had stick to the team for so, so long...
So, how the trip got planned? Simply started by trying to find out how to get tickets to matches at Old Trafford... This include sending an email to manutd.co.uk. The sales executive for the Hospitality packages replied with the Hospitality information, but at first we thought it was a little expensive. Imagine spending about $500 on the package... However, to just get a match ticket is not as easy as we thought it would be... You can only start bidding for tickets in which the season holders were not able to attend and gave up their tickets and you can only bid for the tickets through 1 agency and they only start the bidding 1 month before the match. So, if we were to go that route, it's impossible for us to finalise the other areas of the trip, including accommodation and flights... Yes, finally we decided to go for the Hospitality package. This package basically includes the match ticket, the match programme, if you were driving - a car park lot (if I recall correctly), 10% discount voucher at Megastore, a souvenir gift and a 3-course dinner/lunch depending on your selection of pre-match or post-match package. Of course, depending on the package you chose, you might have more stuff added to it. I only based it on the package we had. If you want to, you can see it in their website... I think we chose the cheapest of the Hospitality package... Can't help it as we had to factor in the exchange rate which was almost 3 times - so if the price is at 100 quid, it will be 300 SGD!!!
Anyway, it was a good game that we had witness, we trash Aston Villa 4 - 0!!! My cousin was so excited that she had "videoed" one of Rooney's goal, although it was not that clear and it was shaking a little (what do you expect, taken from her brand new P&S digital camera)... It was certainly an experience... With us jumping and celebrating with the crowd when they scored... Only chagrin point I have is that there were no close-ups, so we could see the goal, but we could not really see how it got there, like Ronaldo's back flick which resulted in the 1st goal... I only managed to catch it in the Sky sports news on Sunday morning...
So... Did I enjoyed it, YES! Will I do it again... Well... Er, not in the near future... I need another 5 years to save up for another trip... This is the most expensive trip I ever had!!! The Spain trip I was on last year was only half the amount!!!! But seriously... If I can, I would really like to go again... And I would also like to visit Lake district again, this time... More time to be spent there, as in stopping and walking about more than what we did on this trip. This time, I will definitely research a bit more than what I for this trip... Then again, I was practically busy from the start of the year, and I was not even in town for the month of March, kind of hard to do the type of research that I want to...
So, my last leg of photos is, of course, on Old Trafford!
This is the view of the stadium from the place where I was seated for the match... Now you know why I could not get a very good close up on the players!!!!
This was taken when the match was about to start...
Despite the weather was holding well at the start of the match, soon, it started to rain, and by this time, it was pouring. You could see a little on how heavy it was... It was still raining when I left the stadium 2 and half hours after the match ended!
The exterior of the stadium.
A different angle of the Sir Matt Busby statue, he is the most famous manager for starting the road to fame for Manchester United. I believe Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager for MU, next to him. Maybe next time they would have something to commemorate Ferguson, after he retires.
The stadium tour, and the "must-have" shot of the interior of the stadium.
They hang the players shirt in the dressing room for the stadium tour, so that you would be able to know where the players would sit when they are in the dressing room. These are 2 most sought-after place to take photos with... Oh, and next to Rooney, after the bend, is Giggs'.
The team... Well, from 2006/07 season... This should be the most photographed wall, as it is found in the entrance of the Megastore, and it is on the slope from the entrance to the merchandise display area. So that's why it looks tilted!
Oh... Just something to tease the Liverpudlian supporters that I know, and had not been to Anfield... La La La La... I think they know who they are...
Why am I there... Well, to buy the list of stuff requested by the Liverpudlian supporters!!!!
Oh yes, just for the record... I could go to Old Trafford with my eyes closed by the end of the trip... Why? Well, I had taken 5 trips to Old Trafford from City Centre!!!
Being anxious about my match tickets as I had not received it by the time I left for UK, we decided to visit there, familiarise ourselves with the route, and to collect the tickets. I guess we felt better if we had the tickets in our hands... So that was the 1st trip. We came back to hotel empty handed... The tickets were not ready, and since the package includes a 10% discount, we decided not to buy any merchandise yet...
2nd trip was right after we got back into Manchester from Lake District on Friday. We were at the hotel, watching the Sky sports news and they featured the pre-game press conference and the newscaster was mentioning that the game was tomorrow!! We were shocked and confused, so we decided to make the trip to find out, as well as collect the tickets and do the stadium/museum tour. Well, we did find out that it was on sat, at 5.15pm, we did not collect the tickets as it seems that we can only collect it on the match day itself!!!! So, we proceed for the stadium/museum tour - it was fully booked till Sunday 4 pm! So, we paid for the 4 pm stadium tour on Sunday and left.
The match was our 3rd trip.
Our 4th trip was the stadium/museum tour, and we were told to do the museum tour at 3 pm. However, what we did not know is the trading time in UK is only up to 4.30pm on Sunday, so we only got to Old Trafford at 3pm, did the museum tour which was followed by the stadium tour. By the time the tour ended, the megastore was already closed AND we had not bought our merchandise as yet...
The final, and 5th, trip was the next day, which basically to buy the stuff...
Oh, and because of the 5th trip we had to make, we had to cut short our time in Liverpool. Had wanted to go around the town, photo session, but... we could only managed to get to Anfield, buy whatever stuff requested (apparently, my cousin had a longer list of stuff to buy from there!!!), get back to city centre, have lunch and took a bus ride round the city center area and then take the train back to Manchester so that we can finally get our stuff from Megastore!!!
Well... That's the end of it all... I really enjoyed the trip, took lots of photos, but it seems only about 52 of them managed to made the cut... I had only a single call from work and that call would have been avoided if only they were diligent enough to plow through the installation slides that I had made as everything I knew about the installation and technical setup of the system is in the slides!!!! Sigh... Don't start me on this topic... Anyway, I had also spent about say, almost 200 quid on (DVD) shopping... another 200 on souvenirs, and stuff for mother, friends and colleagues...
I guess there will not be anymore trips till I could save enough... Sigh... Either that or go on tours instead of free and easy (gasp!!!)
We started to follow the fortunes of the club when Bryan Robson was the captain of the team. I believe it was back in the early 80s, in fact it would have to be before the 1986 infamous "Hand of God" goal in the World Cup, that we got into football, and I guess the only person we knew then was Bryan Robson, and the team he was playing for was Manchester United. So, that's how we started... Me and me cousins, 3 of us, became MU supporters. Will we were not fanatic followers like some, but I think we would be term as true blue supporter as we had stick to the team for so, so long...
So, how the trip got planned? Simply started by trying to find out how to get tickets to matches at Old Trafford... This include sending an email to manutd.co.uk. The sales executive for the Hospitality packages replied with the Hospitality information, but at first we thought it was a little expensive. Imagine spending about $500 on the package... However, to just get a match ticket is not as easy as we thought it would be... You can only start bidding for tickets in which the season holders were not able to attend and gave up their tickets and you can only bid for the tickets through 1 agency and they only start the bidding 1 month before the match. So, if we were to go that route, it's impossible for us to finalise the other areas of the trip, including accommodation and flights... Yes, finally we decided to go for the Hospitality package. This package basically includes the match ticket, the match programme, if you were driving - a car park lot (if I recall correctly), 10% discount voucher at Megastore, a souvenir gift and a 3-course dinner/lunch depending on your selection of pre-match or post-match package. Of course, depending on the package you chose, you might have more stuff added to it. I only based it on the package we had. If you want to, you can see it in their website... I think we chose the cheapest of the Hospitality package... Can't help it as we had to factor in the exchange rate which was almost 3 times - so if the price is at 100 quid, it will be 300 SGD!!!
Anyway, it was a good game that we had witness, we trash Aston Villa 4 - 0!!! My cousin was so excited that she had "videoed" one of Rooney's goal, although it was not that clear and it was shaking a little (what do you expect, taken from her brand new P&S digital camera)... It was certainly an experience... With us jumping and celebrating with the crowd when they scored... Only chagrin point I have is that there were no close-ups, so we could see the goal, but we could not really see how it got there, like Ronaldo's back flick which resulted in the 1st goal... I only managed to catch it in the Sky sports news on Sunday morning...
So... Did I enjoyed it, YES! Will I do it again... Well... Er, not in the near future... I need another 5 years to save up for another trip... This is the most expensive trip I ever had!!! The Spain trip I was on last year was only half the amount!!!! But seriously... If I can, I would really like to go again... And I would also like to visit Lake district again, this time... More time to be spent there, as in stopping and walking about more than what we did on this trip. This time, I will definitely research a bit more than what I for this trip... Then again, I was practically busy from the start of the year, and I was not even in town for the month of March, kind of hard to do the type of research that I want to...
So, my last leg of photos is, of course, on Old Trafford!
This is the view of the stadium from the place where I was seated for the match... Now you know why I could not get a very good close up on the players!!!!
This was taken when the match was about to start...
Despite the weather was holding well at the start of the match, soon, it started to rain, and by this time, it was pouring. You could see a little on how heavy it was... It was still raining when I left the stadium 2 and half hours after the match ended!
The exterior of the stadium.
A different angle of the Sir Matt Busby statue, he is the most famous manager for starting the road to fame for Manchester United. I believe Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager for MU, next to him. Maybe next time they would have something to commemorate Ferguson, after he retires.
The stadium tour, and the "must-have" shot of the interior of the stadium.
They hang the players shirt in the dressing room for the stadium tour, so that you would be able to know where the players would sit when they are in the dressing room. These are 2 most sought-after place to take photos with... Oh, and next to Rooney, after the bend, is Giggs'.
The team... Well, from 2006/07 season... This should be the most photographed wall, as it is found in the entrance of the Megastore, and it is on the slope from the entrance to the merchandise display area. So that's why it looks tilted!
Oh... Just something to tease the Liverpudlian supporters that I know, and had not been to Anfield... La La La La... I think they know who they are...
Why am I there... Well, to buy the list of stuff requested by the Liverpudlian supporters!!!!
Oh yes, just for the record... I could go to Old Trafford with my eyes closed by the end of the trip... Why? Well, I had taken 5 trips to Old Trafford from City Centre!!!
Being anxious about my match tickets as I had not received it by the time I left for UK, we decided to visit there, familiarise ourselves with the route, and to collect the tickets. I guess we felt better if we had the tickets in our hands... So that was the 1st trip. We came back to hotel empty handed... The tickets were not ready, and since the package includes a 10% discount, we decided not to buy any merchandise yet...
2nd trip was right after we got back into Manchester from Lake District on Friday. We were at the hotel, watching the Sky sports news and they featured the pre-game press conference and the newscaster was mentioning that the game was tomorrow!! We were shocked and confused, so we decided to make the trip to find out, as well as collect the tickets and do the stadium/museum tour. Well, we did find out that it was on sat, at 5.15pm, we did not collect the tickets as it seems that we can only collect it on the match day itself!!!! So, we proceed for the stadium/museum tour - it was fully booked till Sunday 4 pm! So, we paid for the 4 pm stadium tour on Sunday and left.
The match was our 3rd trip.
Our 4th trip was the stadium/museum tour, and we were told to do the museum tour at 3 pm. However, what we did not know is the trading time in UK is only up to 4.30pm on Sunday, so we only got to Old Trafford at 3pm, did the museum tour which was followed by the stadium tour. By the time the tour ended, the megastore was already closed AND we had not bought our merchandise as yet...
The final, and 5th, trip was the next day, which basically to buy the stuff...
Oh, and because of the 5th trip we had to make, we had to cut short our time in Liverpool. Had wanted to go around the town, photo session, but... we could only managed to get to Anfield, buy whatever stuff requested (apparently, my cousin had a longer list of stuff to buy from there!!!), get back to city centre, have lunch and took a bus ride round the city center area and then take the train back to Manchester so that we can finally get our stuff from Megastore!!!
Well... That's the end of it all... I really enjoyed the trip, took lots of photos, but it seems only about 52 of them managed to made the cut... I had only a single call from work and that call would have been avoided if only they were diligent enough to plow through the installation slides that I had made as everything I knew about the installation and technical setup of the system is in the slides!!!! Sigh... Don't start me on this topic... Anyway, I had also spent about say, almost 200 quid on (DVD) shopping... another 200 on souvenirs, and stuff for mother, friends and colleagues...
I guess there will not be anymore trips till I could save enough... Sigh... Either that or go on tours instead of free and easy (gasp!!!)
Lake District Mar-Apr 2008
Finally... After long hours of selection and processing... The 2nd leg of the trip is done. Of course being in such a picturesque area (and spending the longest time there for this trip), the number of photos selected is also large. Without any further comments, here are the photos :-
This flower is found in the small garden outside the B&B we were staying. It does look a little like Thistle, but I cannot confirm. It also looks very nice against the snowy background.
A very playful dog, who grab the plastic bag which my cousin used to bring her clothes to the laundrette and was relying on the bag to bring back the clothes to the B&B, but it did a sneaking thing by getting close to us, allowing us to pet it, and then quickly snatch the plastic bag away before anyone of us could react... Refuses to release the bag, even ignoring the bribe the owner placed on its nose bridge... Naughty, naughty dog!
"I wandered lonely as a cloud:
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."
The famous poem by William Wordsworth, who was born, bred and died in Lake District. How could we not have a snapshot of the daffodils?! However, this is not taken from the lake which he mentioned. Instead it was taken at Dove Cottage which is the house he stayed for a while before moving to Rydal Mount.
Sheep feeding off a haystack. Not sure why, but somehow, one of the sheep will climb up and proceed to eat off the haystack from the top, and usually, it can only support 1 such sheep.
One of the most visited spot in Lake District during Summer. Looks a bit more deserted during early Spring...
Stop by this lake to get some snapshots... Rarely I could get such a clear view of the lake. Most of the other lakes do have some limitation, from the places we stopped.
Honister Pass is most famous for the mine slate which you could visit, but were not interested. You have to pass this to get to Buttermere, using the Borrowdale route. Very nice drive in Borrowdale valley, but to really see it, you need to spend more time there, rather than just 4 days... Because it's better to drive and walk!! We just do the drive... So, no fantastic photographs from the peak of the pikes surround the area!:D (Google the places and see what I mean...)
To show what kind of road conditions we need to drive in... long, winding, uphill and downhill - sometimes at angle of 30 degrees slopes, and yet, like in this shot a plateau...
As mentioned above, this shows the road which we was about to drive down!
Buttermere. Interestingly, if I recall correctly, this was taken from the car, which my cousin was driving.
My first IR shot shown. We stopped at this cross junction to take pictures - requested by my cousin and I really have no idea specifically where in the map we were, except that we had to be near Elterwater, heading toward Great Langdale.
Sigh.. Weather was not co-operating, so there were clouds that covers the peak of the pikes, and the valley is not shown properly. Taken from one of the winding road that is heading down towards the valley...
One of the more challenging drive, see how the road drops at the end... No wonder you might see some road signs for some drives says it's not possible to drive through during winter!!!!
2nd IR shot for this selection. Interestingly, even with such weather conditions, I still managed to get quite a couple of IR shots during this trip.
You see sheep everywhere... This lone sheep was resting at Wrynose Pass... Only it knows why it stop there to rest...
A shot which follows the "small bridge, flowing waters" chinese idiom or something as quote from my cousin.
Another IR shot, this time of Cockley Beck, which is the stream passing through the bridge in the above shot.
A view of the Hardknott Roman Fort from Hardknott Pass.
As you can see from the above photo, to get to the Fort, you need to walk up that hill. As I progress towards the fort, I found plenty of sheep poo to avoid. In addition, I also had to avoid the marsh area, wet from the constant rain/snow it had. Once I reach it, I found out why there were so much poo around... Sheep also graze in these areas! Some were outside the entrance, and some were inside the walls. This sheep happens to be heading toward the flock outside the entrance and I happen to walk in on the opposite side of the wall... So, we stop, face off to each other, trying to figure out what to do next (well, I was basically busy taking shots of it...) and it took the opportunity to run when I was changing my lens (from wide to zoom, so that I could get a close up shot of it... Darn).
View of Windermere from Ambleside. I had to zoom in a bit to reduce the infringement of the jetty boardwalk, etc from the picture.
Another IR shot, this time of Windermere. Taken from the same area, within 100 metres apart.
This is the waterfall that I was talking about in my previous posting. We thought it was Aira Force, when in fact it was High Force, Aira Beck.
An IR shot of Aira Beck. I like the water flow...
Ullswater. The lake which William Wordsworth was inspired to write that famous daffodils poem, where he and his sister had walked, except that I don't see any daffodils around.
A crop shot, cutting out the others in the background, which turns out quite well...
Taken from Bowness-on-Windermere. This time, the swans was happy to swim among themselves and created this opportunity to take this snapshot... If only the bird beyond them would have stayed away... I could have taken a shot with more water on the background... But this still works (I hope).
The only sunset I was able to take pictures of with lake as its foreground...
This flower is found in the small garden outside the B&B we were staying. It does look a little like Thistle, but I cannot confirm. It also looks very nice against the snowy background.
A very playful dog, who grab the plastic bag which my cousin used to bring her clothes to the laundrette and was relying on the bag to bring back the clothes to the B&B, but it did a sneaking thing by getting close to us, allowing us to pet it, and then quickly snatch the plastic bag away before anyone of us could react... Refuses to release the bag, even ignoring the bribe the owner placed on its nose bridge... Naughty, naughty dog!
"I wandered lonely as a cloud:
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."
The famous poem by William Wordsworth, who was born, bred and died in Lake District. How could we not have a snapshot of the daffodils?! However, this is not taken from the lake which he mentioned. Instead it was taken at Dove Cottage which is the house he stayed for a while before moving to Rydal Mount.
Sheep feeding off a haystack. Not sure why, but somehow, one of the sheep will climb up and proceed to eat off the haystack from the top, and usually, it can only support 1 such sheep.
One of the most visited spot in Lake District during Summer. Looks a bit more deserted during early Spring...
Stop by this lake to get some snapshots... Rarely I could get such a clear view of the lake. Most of the other lakes do have some limitation, from the places we stopped.
Honister Pass is most famous for the mine slate which you could visit, but were not interested. You have to pass this to get to Buttermere, using the Borrowdale route. Very nice drive in Borrowdale valley, but to really see it, you need to spend more time there, rather than just 4 days... Because it's better to drive and walk!! We just do the drive... So, no fantastic photographs from the peak of the pikes surround the area!:D (Google the places and see what I mean...)
To show what kind of road conditions we need to drive in... long, winding, uphill and downhill - sometimes at angle of 30 degrees slopes, and yet, like in this shot a plateau...
As mentioned above, this shows the road which we was about to drive down!
Buttermere. Interestingly, if I recall correctly, this was taken from the car, which my cousin was driving.
My first IR shot shown. We stopped at this cross junction to take pictures - requested by my cousin and I really have no idea specifically where in the map we were, except that we had to be near Elterwater, heading toward Great Langdale.
Sigh.. Weather was not co-operating, so there were clouds that covers the peak of the pikes, and the valley is not shown properly. Taken from one of the winding road that is heading down towards the valley...
One of the more challenging drive, see how the road drops at the end... No wonder you might see some road signs for some drives says it's not possible to drive through during winter!!!!
2nd IR shot for this selection. Interestingly, even with such weather conditions, I still managed to get quite a couple of IR shots during this trip.
You see sheep everywhere... This lone sheep was resting at Wrynose Pass... Only it knows why it stop there to rest...
A shot which follows the "small bridge, flowing waters" chinese idiom or something as quote from my cousin.
Another IR shot, this time of Cockley Beck, which is the stream passing through the bridge in the above shot.
A view of the Hardknott Roman Fort from Hardknott Pass.
As you can see from the above photo, to get to the Fort, you need to walk up that hill. As I progress towards the fort, I found plenty of sheep poo to avoid. In addition, I also had to avoid the marsh area, wet from the constant rain/snow it had. Once I reach it, I found out why there were so much poo around... Sheep also graze in these areas! Some were outside the entrance, and some were inside the walls. This sheep happens to be heading toward the flock outside the entrance and I happen to walk in on the opposite side of the wall... So, we stop, face off to each other, trying to figure out what to do next (well, I was basically busy taking shots of it...) and it took the opportunity to run when I was changing my lens (from wide to zoom, so that I could get a close up shot of it... Darn).
View of Windermere from Ambleside. I had to zoom in a bit to reduce the infringement of the jetty boardwalk, etc from the picture.
Another IR shot, this time of Windermere. Taken from the same area, within 100 metres apart.
This is the waterfall that I was talking about in my previous posting. We thought it was Aira Force, when in fact it was High Force, Aira Beck.
An IR shot of Aira Beck. I like the water flow...
Ullswater. The lake which William Wordsworth was inspired to write that famous daffodils poem, where he and his sister had walked, except that I don't see any daffodils around.
A crop shot, cutting out the others in the background, which turns out quite well...
Taken from Bowness-on-Windermere. This time, the swans was happy to swim among themselves and created this opportunity to take this snapshot... If only the bird beyond them would have stayed away... I could have taken a shot with more water on the background... But this still works (I hope).
The only sunset I was able to take pictures of with lake as its foreground...
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
You can never do enough research....
Am currently working on my Lake District photos, and was trying to figure out where I took those photos, since there is no GPS on my cam, neither did I really write down (how to do that when I am the driver?!?! Hmmm...), I mean it's in the middle of the drive, and frankly sometimes it's hard to figure out where we were exactly. On the hindsight, should have borrowed Teh Peng's GPS thingy which he brought along for his Spain trip and use it to record the location every time we stopped! (Well, then again, his GPS thingy may not be working anymore!)
This little anecdote may help you in deciding on whether a slightly more indepth research is useful... Now, it's not that we just go around the area without aim... We had google on places to go via internet in terms of what car route we could take, etc. I had brought the (borrowed from NLB) Rough Guide to Lake District book along during the trip. Aira Force waterfall was a highlight of Ullswater area (but not certain if they had a picture of the waterfall in the book). It sounded good, so we made a point to go for photos.
We went, but what we did not know is how it looks like, and I did not remember the instructions well enough (surprisingly we did not check the guide to confirm!!!) and so we thought the car park we stop was near it. It was somewhat there, but we had to walk down the area to get to the waterfall. There was, apparently, a tea room at the car park for the Aira Force. Well, the car park we were at, does not have that... And there was a small waterfall near where the car park is... Turns out, that's actually High Force, Aira Beck!!! There we were, thinking it's Aira Force!
So, how did I discover the mistake? Simple, googling the places that we had been to and trying to pin point the places so that I can mark my pictures... And started to look at Aira Force pictures that are on the net... Oops! Looks like I got the wrong waterfall!!! Boy, oh boy, oh boy...
Sigh...
Not sure if my coz had read my sms on this!
This little anecdote may help you in deciding on whether a slightly more indepth research is useful... Now, it's not that we just go around the area without aim... We had google on places to go via internet in terms of what car route we could take, etc. I had brought the (borrowed from NLB) Rough Guide to Lake District book along during the trip. Aira Force waterfall was a highlight of Ullswater area (but not certain if they had a picture of the waterfall in the book). It sounded good, so we made a point to go for photos.
We went, but what we did not know is how it looks like, and I did not remember the instructions well enough (surprisingly we did not check the guide to confirm!!!) and so we thought the car park we stop was near it. It was somewhat there, but we had to walk down the area to get to the waterfall. There was, apparently, a tea room at the car park for the Aira Force. Well, the car park we were at, does not have that... And there was a small waterfall near where the car park is... Turns out, that's actually High Force, Aira Beck!!! There we were, thinking it's Aira Force!
So, how did I discover the mistake? Simple, googling the places that we had been to and trying to pin point the places so that I can mark my pictures... And started to look at Aira Force pictures that are on the net... Oops! Looks like I got the wrong waterfall!!! Boy, oh boy, oh boy...
Sigh...
Not sure if my coz had read my sms on this!
Monday, April 07, 2008
Edinburgh/Loch Ness and Highlands of Scotland Mar-Apr 2008
Next the series of photos comes from Edinburgh and the Loch Ness & Highlands of Scotland 1 day tour that I did. Edinburgh is still the same as I had seen it almost 12 years ago; Nothing has changed much, except maybe more people? Anyway, the Loch Ness & Highlands of Scotland was something new. The last time I was in Scotland, I had only spend half a day in Edinburgh and then journey onto Dundee. Spend most of my time in Dundee, in a conference room during the day, but managed to have a traditional Scottish dinner (if I recall correctly), did some shooting at the range (arranged by the company) and even spent some late evening hours in a Dundee club (Was dragged there by my colleagues). Anyway, here are the photos from the Edinburgh leg of the trip.
Hound dog, Maya (IIRC), belonging to the B&B owner.
If you had gone on the guide day tours, you will know Hamish.
Rancoor Moor (Taken from the bus)
Somewhere near Pass of Glencoe. Spotted a RN helicopter. Every tour buses and others passing by this area, stopped to take pictures with the helicopter. At this time, it was starting its engine and was about to lift off.
Taken very shortly after it took off. I had to squat and angle up to avoid all cameras/hands of the people surrounding me - All taking photos of the helicopter.
Reason for the helicopter to be in part of this area - Mountain Rescue team was having some exercise. Maybe in anticipation of the upcoming Summer crowd !?!?. (Taken from the bus)
On the way to Inverness, we pass a lot of hills/mountains and Lochs, this is one of the river which we passed, but not certain where except that it's after Fort William and on the way to Inverness. Taken from the bus.
On the way to Pitlochry, as you can see, the scenery changes, even the ground is now covered with snow. Taken from the bus (again!)
Was walking pass Brunsfield Park on the way to the Edinburgh Old Town area from my B&B on Sunday morning, they were one of the few people out in the park. This girl and the father (I think) was throwing the ball and the dog was trying to catch it.
Another shot of the dog, this time when it was running from the girl to the father.
Saw this King Charles Spaniel pooing in a bed of flowers. Could not resist in taking a snapshot.
Boer War Memorial Statue along Princes St, Edinburgh
Hound dog, Maya (IIRC), belonging to the B&B owner.
If you had gone on the guide day tours, you will know Hamish.
Rancoor Moor (Taken from the bus)
Somewhere near Pass of Glencoe. Spotted a RN helicopter. Every tour buses and others passing by this area, stopped to take pictures with the helicopter. At this time, it was starting its engine and was about to lift off.
Taken very shortly after it took off. I had to squat and angle up to avoid all cameras/hands of the people surrounding me - All taking photos of the helicopter.
Reason for the helicopter to be in part of this area - Mountain Rescue team was having some exercise. Maybe in anticipation of the upcoming Summer crowd !?!?. (Taken from the bus)
On the way to Inverness, we pass a lot of hills/mountains and Lochs, this is one of the river which we passed, but not certain where except that it's after Fort William and on the way to Inverness. Taken from the bus.
On the way to Pitlochry, as you can see, the scenery changes, even the ground is now covered with snow. Taken from the bus (again!)
Was walking pass Brunsfield Park on the way to the Edinburgh Old Town area from my B&B on Sunday morning, they were one of the few people out in the park. This girl and the father (I think) was throwing the ball and the dog was trying to catch it.
Another shot of the dog, this time when it was running from the girl to the father.
Saw this King Charles Spaniel pooing in a bed of flowers. Could not resist in taking a snapshot.
Boer War Memorial Statue along Princes St, Edinburgh
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Manchester, Mar-Apr 2008
Well, what can I say about Manchester. It's a city with a mix of old town architecture buildings and of the new. The weather was not very co-operative while I was there... Rain mostly, especially on the day that we arrive on 20 Mar. When we return on 28 Mar, it was still overcast and with slight rain. It stayed on till we left. In all, after Lake District, Manchester can be said to be a little too gloomy, much like London (Not that I had encountered, but that's what everyone says. I had good weather there before). So, other than visiting the Wheel of Manchester and the Cathedral, there isn't much to see, but well, the shopping is different... Considering I bought most of DVDs there... I can't help it when there is a "Up to 70% off" sale that they are having, can I?
So, with that said, below are some of the shots that "made the grade", well, almost...
But I am not certain if the start of the trip was good...
LHR Immigration person: Where are you heading, Mrs XXX (Surname withheld)?
Me *after 12 hours of flight and with only like 6 hours of broken sleep, immediately look around to see who he is addressing... Then realised he is holding my passport*: Er... Manchester?!?
LHR IP: Oh, visiting your child studying at the University?
Me *Starred for a second trying to digest his question, jaw dropped, and then recovered* : Er, NO!
LHR IP: Oh, so what is your business there? *Getting very curious*
Me *getting very stressed*: Er... Well, do the touristy thing, er, visit??!?!
LHR IP looked at me suspiciously...
Me: Er... Manchester is just the start, would be heading to Edinburgh and Lake District
LHR IP *very relaxed*: Ah... Ok... Just surprised with your answer. Manchester is just a city nothing much to visit on... *Realised what he was trying to imply* It's a nice city, but it's a city, it's more for shopping...
Me: *Relived.... Feeling more stressed than having an exam, but then realised what he was thinking from the 1st line.... Mrs!??!? Child studying at University!??!?!?! Huh!??!?!?!*
You know... Even if I was to have a child when I was at age 18, I don't think my child would be studying at University... Not unless that child is a child prodigy!!!! Then again, if I am rich, and the child had issues in studying in Singapore Education system... Maybe... BUT, isn't Australia nearer and cheaper!??!?!?!
Forgot to add this little bit of info on the Macdonald Manchester Hotel that we stayed for a night (at £85) before heading for Edinburgh... If you have an iPod, and you did stay in this hotel, you are in for a treat. They have a BOSE sound dock for your use; we had made full use of it, listening to all the songs I have in my iPod!!!
So, with that said, below are some of the shots that "made the grade", well, almost...
But I am not certain if the start of the trip was good...
LHR Immigration person: Where are you heading, Mrs XXX (Surname withheld)?
Me *after 12 hours of flight and with only like 6 hours of broken sleep, immediately look around to see who he is addressing... Then realised he is holding my passport*: Er... Manchester?!?
LHR IP: Oh, visiting your child studying at the University?
Me *Starred for a second trying to digest his question, jaw dropped, and then recovered* : Er, NO!
LHR IP: Oh, so what is your business there? *Getting very curious*
Me *getting very stressed*: Er... Well, do the touristy thing, er, visit??!?!
LHR IP looked at me suspiciously...
Me: Er... Manchester is just the start, would be heading to Edinburgh and Lake District
LHR IP *very relaxed*: Ah... Ok... Just surprised with your answer. Manchester is just a city nothing much to visit on... *Realised what he was trying to imply* It's a nice city, but it's a city, it's more for shopping...
Me: *Relived.... Feeling more stressed than having an exam, but then realised what he was thinking from the 1st line.... Mrs!??!? Child studying at University!??!?!?! Huh!??!?!?!*
You know... Even if I was to have a child when I was at age 18, I don't think my child would be studying at University... Not unless that child is a child prodigy!!!! Then again, if I am rich, and the child had issues in studying in Singapore Education system... Maybe... BUT, isn't Australia nearer and cheaper!??!?!?!
Forgot to add this little bit of info on the Macdonald Manchester Hotel that we stayed for a night (at £85) before heading for Edinburgh... If you have an iPod, and you did stay in this hotel, you are in for a treat. They have a BOSE sound dock for your use; we had made full use of it, listening to all the songs I have in my iPod!!!
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