Mind the Weight of Your Luggage

In this modern day of traveling with budget airlines, you have to pay to have check-in luggage.  The amount you pay depends on the weight of your check-in luggage.  For example, you have to pay SGD50 for 15kg of check-in luggage for Tiger Air.

You grumble about the steep charges, but have you ever wondered what is the weight of your luggage bag itself?  I have two luggage bags, both are 24", one is from United Colors of Benetton, the other is from Slazenger.  They are of slightly different shape, but both are made of ABS material.  Just out of curiosity, I weighted both of them.  Guess what, they weight 4kg each!  Just the luggage bag itself, it weights 4kg.  That's 27% of your 15kg luggage quota.  It means you can only stuff another 11kg into your luggage before it goes over the 15kg limit.

Sponsor A Child

It is both great joy and great sadness that I received a letter from World Vision Singapore, informing me that the boy that I sponsored in China has completed his high school education, and is now independent enough to leave the program.

When I first started sponsoring him, he was still in primary 4, now he has completed his high school.  So many years had passed.  I am really happy that I am able to make a small difference to someone's life, to give him a potential to lead a better life than his parents.  It feels good to give others hope.

Now that this Chinese boy has left the World Vision program, World Vision Singapore recommended another boy from Sri Lanka as the candidate for my sponsorship.  I think I will just continue with this program.  Maybe I can only offer a little bit help, and I can only help a very small number of people, but it is always better than doing nothing.

If you like to sponsor a child, making some difference to someone's life for the better, you can visit: http://www.worldvision.org.sg/ways-to-give/sponsor-a-child/.  Together, we can make a better world for everyone.  

Peach Garden @ Miramar Hotel

Went to Peach Garden at Miramar Hotel for an ala carte lunch buffet.  The service was quite good.  After we arrived, they ushered us in, and served us drinks promptly.  Menu was also provided for us to start ordering.

Dining environment was not too bad.  As the restaurant is hidden inside a hotel, and it is not very accessible, and it was a week day, so there were not many people.

The first dish that  came was fried fish skin.   The fish skin was very crispy, and still a bit hot.  The taste was great, but one of my friends complained it was a bit on the oily side to his taste.

Then came the deep fried shun hock fish.  The fish was fresh, and the deep fried was just nice, even the bones became crispy.  For people who hate fish bones, this dish would be a good choice.

They served the dishes a bit out of sequence, as the fish came before our appetizer, drunken chicken.  I would say this one was not bad.  It had the alcohol taste, but not so strong that it would become bitter.  The chicken meat remained tender, with a little taste of Chinese herbs.

We ordered four different types of prawn dishes.  They used good quality fresh prawns.  I must give them a thumbs up for this.  All four dishes were good.  When you squeezed the prawn, the meat would come out nicely.  And the prawn would pop in your mouth when you bite it.  Good!

They also have many different meat dishes, such as pork ribs, fried chicken wings, etc.  They were not bad too, but the portions were simply too big, even though we ordered 'small' portions.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience.  The service staff should be praised too for their good service, especially the duty manager.  He was very polite to us and also to his own staff.

For the ala carte buffet, you need to have a minimum of 4 dining parties though.  The price was S$58++/pax  for weekday lunch, with some discount.  

Current State of Microstock

It has been many years since I last wrote about the microstock 'industry', so today let's take a look at how it looks like today.

In the past decade, almost all the microstock agencies had seen a change of hands.  iStockPhoto had been acquired by Getty Images, 123RF as well?  Fotolia had been bought over by Adobe, while BigStockPhoto had been bought by rival ShutterStock.

For the only two great survivors, namely ShutterStock and Dreamstime, ShutterStock went public in 2012.  Its share price went from US$25 at IPO to over  US$100, and then it is back down to below US$30 now.  Even so, its Price to Earning ratio is still at 51, high by every standard.

Dreamstime is dying a slow death.  My sales there went down to almost 0.  Just when I thought it is because I don't have a good portfolio, I check the sales of another photographer, who has 2233 photos in his portfolio, and plenty of models.  He only manages to have 3 sales in a week!

Dreamstime used to have this practice of removing photos that don't sell in the past x number of years, but now they don't do that anymore.  I suspect many contributors removed their photos in large numbers in their portfolio at some particular time when Dreamstime was in some difficulty.

The competition in microstock is simply fierce.  I met one professional photographer the other day.  He told me that when he shot for stocks, he did 3200 photos in a day.  You see, 1) the pros are doing this as well, competing with hobbyists and amateurs; 2) they produce a huge volume in a very short time.  How can people like me compete with them?   At the same time, I feel sorry for the pros.  They have to come so low.

I think microstock had already seen its best time, and in the future, we will only see more and more fierce competition, and thinner and thinner profits for photographers.  It is ok to keep it as a hobby, but as a means for making a living?  I don't think so.  

Sen of Japan

As part of Canon's Triple Treat deal, I was offered a free food photography workshop at Sen of Japan restaurant.  The restaurant is located in Marina Bay Sands shoppe, right next to the Art and Science Museum.

For us to practice our photography skills, of course, a delicious 9-course Japanese set lunch was offered :-)

Our Lunch Menu

Entree

Entree was Aspara salad.  Other than the normal vegetables that you can expect, they also have some fried items, which give you a different sensation from the wet and juicy vegetable taste.

Sushi Roll

Their sushi roll was really good.  The softness of the sushi rice, coupled with the freshness of mango and avocado, plus the pop pop pop sensation of the fish roe, and not to forget they actually have some kind of sauce that adds one additional layer of texture to the sushi.  All these combined together is a great feast to your taste buds.

Sashimi

Food is not just all about the taste, it is also an art of presentation.  The salmon sashimi has been carefully styled as a rose.  Isn't it beautiful?

Tempura

Their tempura set is just as impressive.  You are not just satisfying your taste buds, but also your visual sensors.

Main Course - Beef

The main course was beef.  The chef already cut the big piece of beef into smaller slices, easy for you to pick up and eat.  The Japanese spirit of attention to details is amply demonstrated here.  In terms of taste, however, I must complain a bit, as the beef is a bit on the more chewy side.  Then I am not sure whether it is my fault, because I took as much time photographing it, as I ate it.

Overall, I think this is a great restaurant where you can have multiple sensations satisfied.  And kudos to the Canon folks who delivered such a great experience for us!

How to Grow Radish Sprouts

There is a new trend in growing your own food, especially the so-called 'microgreens', such as bean sprouts, radish sprouts, etc.

Today, let me share with you my experience in growing radish sprouts at home.

Day 1: Sowing the Seeds

First, put a thin layer of soil in the flower pot, about 2-3cm thick.  Then spread radish seeds on the soil surface generously.  Don't worry about the density, just spread the seeds.  You don't have to cover the seeds with soil, leave them on the surface, exposed.  Most importantly, spray water on the seeds generously, make sure the seeds are well moistured.

Day 2: Germinating

The seeds will start germinating on the second day.  Continue to spray water on the seeds, twice a day.  Ensure the seeds have enough moisture.  If twice a day is not enough, increase the frequency of spraying water.

Day 3: Sprouting Out

Day 5: Radish Sprout

On day 5, the radish sprouts can grow about 1-2 inches high.  If you like it this way, you can already harvest the sprouts.

Day 7: Fully Grown Sprouts

On day 7, the sprouts are already really tall.  This is the perfect time to harvest the sprouts and enjoy the fruit of your labour.

Radish sprouts are easy to grow, minimal care needed, while it is healthy.  You have full control of the sprouts from seed to maturity.  It is a great choice for modern day city little farmers :-)

Lens Back Focus Test

Lens back focus has been a known issue for a long time.  With the arrival of 24mega pixels entry DSLRs, this issue become more prominent.

You can follow a simple test on your lens and camera to check for any auto focusing issue, below is simple video by a Malaysian young chap, but it is very to the point.


However, there is more to it.  From my own experience, I would like to add some points.

1. The focus chart that you use.  If you just download it from the internet, and print it out on normal print paper using your office laser printer, the print and paper qualities are not that high in the first place.  It is more difficult to tell which point is sharp, which point is not.

Sample Auto Focus Test Shot 1

The sample test shot above is an example.  Can you tell whether the word 'sharp' is sharp, or the numbers 2 & 4 below it are sharp?  Or the number 2 above it is sharp?

2. If you are doing this test with a zoom lens, you need to do it at the extreme ends of the zoom range, as well as the mid point.  You expect the performance to be consistent over the zoom range, but the actual fact is not.  You may have good auto focus at the mid point, but your auto focus may be off at the extreme ends.  You have to decide what is considered to be good for you.

That's all for today.  Happy shooting photos!

UberX vs Comfort Taxi

Uber had started its operation in Singapore for quite some time.  The review has been mixed, so I decided to give it a try and do my own comparison.

UberX is said to be the cheapest of the Uber series of services provided so it obviously became my No. 1 candidate for the comparison.

First, I hailed a Comfort taxi outside my office during lunch time, and went to a nearby sports complex.  We were not so lucky that day, as we hit multiple traffic lights, and waited the maximum wait time.  At the end, the trip cost me $6.50.

Then on another day, I got myself a UberX car, also during lunch time, from my office to the same sports complex.  The wait time for the car to come was 4 minutes.  The ride was smooth, and the driver took the exact same route as the Comfort taxi, but we were a bit more lucky this time, and didn't get stopped by traffic lights so often.  The trip cost me $6.80.

At first glance, we may conclude that UberX is more expensive than taxi, but then as you think about it, if you call a taxi, you need to pay additional ~$3.20, factoring in this cost, the total taxi fare would have been $6.50 + $3.20 = $9.70.  In this case, UberX is cheaper.

However, the not so good side of UberX is that you don't know how much your journey will cost before hand.  Their rate is based on real time demand.  If you are unlucky, you may end up with a much more expensive journey and it will really shock you.

Which one is better?  It is up to your own decision.  I probably will be more conservative and hail a cab, as I won't be surprised by a huge bill.