My Memory Makers- Samsung NX1000 & HTC ONE S

Sometimes, I do have lucks in winning some GREAT prizes by participating online contests. However, apart from luck, I did put efforts in writing good slogan and comments to win them. There were few prizes that had spiced up my life especially the lovely memories makers which are Samsung NX1000 and HTC One S phone. The memories makers had been my loyal companions for traveling and moments-capturing.

Samsung Smart NX1000 is an interchangeable-lens camera which is available in black, white and pink colour. The contributor in memories making process had arrived my hugs in year 2012. Unpacking the box revealing my stylish white Samsung Smart NX1000 which comes along with :

♥ 20-50mm F/3.5-5.6 ED Lens (White)
♥ SEF-8A Hot Shoe Mount Flash Unit
♥ BP1030 Lithium-ion Battery
♥ BC1030 Battery Charger & AC Cable
♥ Body Cap
♥ Camera Strap
♥ Micro USB Cable

#1   Smart settings
I was very impressed with Samsung NX1000 which takes great shots whether in all-auto (SMART) or various less-auto/manual modes. Before owning this stylish baby, I wasn't confident in Samsung branded camera. The effective automatic controls and manual settings is suitable for me whom is not an expertise in photography.

One of the night scenery that I had captured using Samsung NX1000

# 2   20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
The 20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor made Samsung Smart NX1000 becoming the great competitor for DSLR.The high-speed capture and fast auto-focus enable the precious moments been captured unmistakably.

# 3  Smart Filters
I had lots of fun with its Smart filters which encompassed of Miniature, Soft Focus, Old Film1, Old Film2,, Halftone Dots, Sketch, Fish-Eye, De-fog and etcetera. Filters are just like bonus add-on to NX1000 as it eased us who love to share photographs with Instagram-filter effects. Hmmm, I hadn't tried to capture human using these filters, perhaps I shall try in future.

# 4  i-Function

The i-Function allows activation of menu controls to select ISO,filters by rotating the ring easily instead of clicking buttons, creating seamless experience in shooting.

# 5  Mobile link and WiFi Mode
The built-in features of mobile link and Wifi Mode are definitely attracted me who like to connect to WiFi hot spot and upload photos to social media sites like Facebook, Youtube, blog, and Photobucket. The capabilities of linking photos to offsite storage websites like dropbox makes me feel more secured as the photos are backed up safely.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my stylish camera's features and the quality of photos it had helped me to capture. The drawback would be the white colour design which needs extra care as it gets dirty easily. I have the headache of having yellowish looked camera straps and it has to be washed often.

HTC ONE S

The loyal companion which had been together with me for almost 1 year and a half. HTC One S may not be as good as its rivals like Samsung Note, iPhone, but it is definitely one of the stunning smartphones which able to take vivid and nice photos. Most of the photos in the blog ranged from 2013 onward are mostly taken by HTC One S.

Source: http://www.htc.com/au/smartphones/htc-one-s/

HTC ONE S features :

3G, 4.3″ Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 8 MP camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth.

Moments. Memory

Shanghai and Sze Chuan Cuisines @ Esquire Kitchen 大人餐厅

Esquire Kitchen is one of most visited dining places during my childhood  Being part of a traditional family, my parents are preferring Esquire Kitchen for its Shanghai and Sze Chuan cuisines compared to the latest trends of Japanese/ Korea cuisines. This year, we had visited Sungei Wang Plaza and shopped for new clothes during Chinese New Year. Esquire Kitchen had been our choice of having dinner.

Sungei Wang Plaza Chinese New Year decoration

Crowded Esquire Kitchen

We ordered Prosperity New Year set (RM68++) which allowed us to choose 4 main dishes and dessert. We had ordered the well known cuisines such as Wo Tip and Xiao Long Bao.

Fried Shanghainese Dumplings with crispy skins wrapping the flavorful meat.

Pan fried Shanghainese Dumplings had one side crispy while the topside is left slightly chewy.

Fried Shanghainese Dumplings  (Shanghai Wo Tip) is one of the specialties of Esquire Kitchen.
It tastes best by eating with ginger slices.

Double Mushroom with Seasoned Beancurd skins 竹报平安
Braised beancurd skins with mushrooms is an usual dish we had at home, however Esquire Kitchen has cooked them with many types of vegetables  

Stir-fry lotus roots with chinese sausages 莲花玉女
Each bite of this dish is fulled of crunchiness. The dish is made of lotus roots, Chinese sausages and cashew nuts, carrot slices and green beans.

Braised pork ribs with chestnuts and shittake mushrooms 儿孙满堂

The soy-braised pork spare ribs are not an easy dish to be cooked according to my mom as it takes a long time for preparing the ingredients, ensuring the shittake mushroom are marinated well before cooking and lastly stewing the marinated pork ribs with low heat till the meats are tendered.

I liked this dish particularly because of chestnuts and shittake mushroom being my favorite food.

Deep Fried Garoupa with citrus juice 年年有余
It looked like Thailand style fish to us due to the slices of carrots and cucumbers on top of the garoupa. The sweetness and sourness were well-balanced along with the crunchy skin and flaky flesh of the fish.

The delicate & translucent-skinned Xiao Long Bao ( steamed dumplings) which were filled with minced meats (prawns and pork) and essential juices.
I hoped I could have another basket of xiao long bao to enliven my taste buds :)

Family dinner

Dessert rice balls in red beans paste 甜甜蜜蜜

As the name of the dessert, a bowl of glutinous rice balls in red bean paste had perfectly ended our scrumptious dinner.

Family dinner 

It's still one of the best dining places for family dinner. Good value for its authentic cuisines and the ambiance of restaurant is pleasant for family gathering.

Random

A Meaningful Article

The article which is written by Tribble Reese...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—-your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else—-the small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first—-the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

After-thoughts: It was a bad day and my mind was a mess before reading this article. Having no sleep continuously for two days was a drastic nightmare to the soul itself. Sometimes, we used to know the simplest theory which is love yourself more than any others, but actions don't align with the brain. As the article mentioned, if spend all the time and energy on the small stuffs, we might never have room for other important things. Work is indeed important, but loved ones i.e. family and friends are matter too. It's just depends how we set our priorities and to take care of what are important for us first.

Hmm.. I had been thinking what I shall prior in my life, and making a hard decision for which I shall still persist.Perhaps it 's not the article which causes the decision-making, but is the faiths have faded off.

Untitled

“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and 

attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.”

 ~Dalai Lama

Short getaway and Christmas Decoration @ Changi Airport; Singapore

A short getaway from the busy working life to Singapore. 

 Landing Singapore

The centerpiece was found at Terminal 1 of Changi Airport.  Kinetic Rain is the world's largest kinetic sculpture with 1,216 raindrops made of aluminium and highly polished copper, controlled by 1,216 individual motors, swirl and dance.

Christmas decorations at Changi Airport; Singapore.

Western Food at Aston Specialities was delectable. I love the crispy onion rings and the mashed potato was unexpectedly delicious. The black pepper chicken did not fail to tempt my taste buds.

Good food that was found in Singapore with a reasonable price.

Last but not least, wishing for a great and fabulous Horse year ahead.

Moving into New Territory

It was the day that we moved to new territory. In other words, we moved to a new place. There are many reasons causing my parents in this decision. One of the reasons is hope that 4 of the children to live in more comfortable surroundings. 

Leaving a place which I spent almost 20 years with was saddening enough. Moreover, how many of my friends or loved one could be connected after I had been moving to a farer place. She told me,' If the person wants to find you, she/he will able to find you since you have informed about the address'. Well, I lack of confidence in her spoken words. How many of us used to say that we will still keep in touch, but forgetting that it takes two to move the best foot forward each other?

A busy day ended after transferring furniture, un-boxing the clothes and groceries.  Here are some pictures of my current home...

My city

1,2,3,4,5....9

The swimming pool

My 24th birthday, Christmas and New Year 2014 will be spent in the new home.
Do you ever know how I wish that you would be able to come over?

Commitment

Waking up in the middle of the night and couldn't return to the dreamland is really an awful experience. 
Random things could be appearing in the active brain that doesn't want to rest during late night.Sometimes the best thing you can do is not to think, not to wonder, not to imagine and not to obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best. The another side of your brain will tell you that " Dear, you need to find a solution".

Having shared goals is one of the keys to a happy relationship, and it subtly reminds each of you that you're working as a team. Living in separate homes does not mean have to lead separate lives and have separate futures. However, this takes two for a tango. Two persons have to share the same goals. There are two sides of a coin and would we have a optimistic view on this? I opine that even the most confident girls could be feeling insecure with the man she loves wholeheartedly, because deep down, she knows she has all to lose. Calling her paranoid of thinking too much? If you really love her, you wouldn't be as concerned over whether she's right or wrong, reasonable or unreasonable, but see that all she needs is assurance that only you can give - and you would give it to her. 

The persistence had kept me holding on, and I wish you share the same thought.

Tonight, I just need some encouragement words.

Beauty Box Subscription- Bag of Love November 2013

Recently, I found that there are many friends subscribed for both MIVVA Beauty Box and Bag of Love. Both owner uses the same concept by having cosmetic products or samples to be sent to customers with their own designed box (MIVVA Beauty Box) or bag (Bag of Love).In other words, there would be beauty products (skin care, hair care, cosmetics, fragrances etc etc) delivered right to your doorstep every month along with their designed bag or box. I personally like the idea as the bag or box could be recycled/reused; and they could be sent to friends as gift too.

Upon my birthday month, I decided to subscribe for Bag of Love's November bag as my birthday gift. I subscribed it because the Facebook website had announced that there will be a Panasonic product in the bag. This had attracted me! From Panasonic website, I found several possible items that could be included in the bag such as  tweezer, eyelashes curler or electronic toothbrush. Moreover, the next teaser was Levi’s Denim Tote.

Un-wrapping gift brought excitement and I was on cloud nine when I saw the electronic toothbrush!
The bag included the items as shown in the picture below:

1) Panasonic Pocket Doltz Toothbrush..

I did not expect electronic product will be given in beauty box subscription. In my mind, I thought that beauty box should be filled with cosmetic stuffs or skin care products. Nevertheless, this electronic toothbrush is very convenient and easy to be used. Clear instruction was given along with the toothbrush.

2) DOVE Hair Therapy Hair Fall Rescue Shampoo (90ml) and Conditioner (80ml)

This brand doesn't give me much confidence as my hair turns dry when I used their hair-care products previously. From the advertisement, it shows that the hair therapy hair fall rescue shampoo contains Trichazole actives to nourish roots and help keep hair firmly locked in. Perhaps I shall give DOVE one more chance.

3) ELIZABETH ARDEN Red Door Aura EDT (1.2ml)

This fragrance has a strong floral scent, just nice for me! By the way, why it's not in a full size?  Haha.. I am just greedy!

4) CLARINS Double Serum® Complete Age Control Concentrate (1ml per sachet) 

It's the first time I come across this range of products. A serum which can defy all signs of ageing- it lets me thinking of SK II. The catalog highlighted that firmer skin, reduced wrinkles, more even complexion and less visible pores after using this product. I thought of passing this for my mom to try.

4) Last but not least, the denim tote bag...

It's a Levi's denim bag, without the logo of Bag of Love. It is made of durable denim material, and it's in an average size which is useful for casual outing. The interior design of the denim bag is great and this combination with denim has made it looked more trendy. 

Did I get my RM39.90 worth? I think it was reasonable. The denim Levi's tote bag and overall generous sized samples made it look impressive for me. However, I was a bit disappointed as I was actually hoping for more skin-care products.

More details: https://www.facebook.com/BagofLove