The Brown Guy is Back

By popular demand, he's back to give us more!

I couldn't be more thankful to D*, who managed to get a seat for Russell Peters's show on 2nd November'08.
The initial round of seats were sold as fast as hot cakes within a few hours. Before we could decide which of the two dates to attend, they were all swept away by a hurricane of some RP fans.

Thanks to the Singapore 'download scene' we sky-rocketed Russell Peters to fame. It proves true that one can only be as famous as their online presence, but never more. Only the eccentric survives.

The eccentric is extending his show till the 3rd night!!! Hurray!!

D* managed to get the front seats at the stage's right side, which is still as good as the center (else better). Getting an online ticket on SISTIC felt like the 'Fastest Finger' segment. After the payment is made, comes the final showdown. Though there's no real tournament, every front seat buyer is coveting a secret wish: to be chided upon, and to be poked fun at by the spontaneous comedian.

Here I come, 2 November 2008!

Starstruck With My New Found Fame

Thanks D*. I am impressed with your 'overnight' photoshop-ping skills.

From: D*
Sent: Mon 10/13/2008 4:19 PM
To: GinsengBabe
Subject: Do you know that you have been famous in the west?

Hi GinsengBabe,

Its been such a long time. Well, I recently came back from Manchester few weeks ago and guess what, your photography has been much appreciated in UK and possibly US. Everyone knows you and your pictures are awesome. They are pasted everywhere, esp the classic 'Jasmine Flowers' picture. I took a snapshot of some of them when I was travelling and I have attached it.

Its really an honour to know you. Didnt know that you will rise up to be such famous and important person. If there is any big fan of yours, its definitely me! Take care and keep taking good pictures with your DSLR camera.

Hope to catch up with you sometime soon. (Will i need an appointment from you to do that?) :)

Long time good friend,
D*

Seeing is believing: (Click on picture to view)

Foreign Talents

Thanks Teck Hwee, for sending me the link to this blog, which alleged that our dear alien friends will be visiting planet Earth on 14 October 2008.

Too imaginative for my liking.

Learning to Abuse

It was pretty awkward to have Graeme leave for the airport... and to sleep there. I was feeling a tinge of guilt for inviting him home at 12 midnight.
That was after Gjaye brought us to Punggol's end, Singapore's Northern land, to check out the beaches.. we observed some fishing enthusiasts combing the coast, a family having fun with the sand.. all in the middle of the night. The light source illuminating the coasts are the strobe lights from the Coast Guards station (where a lady sat near by to read The Straits Times), the land across the straits and the mid-autumn moon. I loved the look of the sand, washed with a monochromatic paleness, but I bet it wouldn't be comparable to the San Francisco bay that Graeme did his kite flying at. We are supposed to drink in a pub, but the place is too smoky and crowded.

We invited Graeme to my place. This is when things started turning awry.
Mum, being a wonderful host as alway, kept awake to serve him some pandan cake, and mooncake (We didn't try it, since we felt pretty full after eating the pandan cake) and returned to the kitchen to chat with Gjaye.

So Graeme and I were left in the living room. We chatted about the difference in our lives and the pecking order in the family. Being Tolkein fans, I showed him a Tolkien picture book drawn by Davis Day and convinced him that he should watch the LOTR film. I was so entthusiastic to show him the video when the DVD player malfunctions (unable to detect the disc). The next thing I knew is mum behind me, asking me why am I playing movies so late at night, and stated there is no spare room for Graeme.
It's pointless to refute mum. I have no choice but to send him 'home' (somewhere) on a Comfort Taxi. He was supposed to make his way to the hotel, but choose to go nap in the airport instead. Man... He's a cool Australian guy. But I can't help feeling HORRIBLE for being a LOUSY and abusive host.

It was 3:00AM when everything is (finally) settled. Had a warm bath, laid in bed and thought of Deepak's flight arrival at 6:30AM. I dozed off even before I could send him a message to tell him that I will not be receiving him from the airport.

We met for dinner anyway, had a simple Japanese fast food meal at Kovan, where he gave me the books he bought for me in Manchester. An advanced sketching guide book and this: "The Little Book of Abuse" by Jasmine Birtles. Amazing palm-sized packed with witty between-the-lines.
Two reasons why he bought that: The author and I have similar first names, and lastly, to hone my sarcasm skills.

LESSON 1. Abuse for the fashion victim:

Nice perfume.
Must you marinate in it?

I am so bringing it everywhere.

Thanks D

First Baby

I have no clue how to shoot like a pro with my Canon 450D DSLR. This is sure going to take some time to master. It is also officially ranked as the most expensive posessions (aside from my gaming gadgets) I ever invested in.

I am glad that I didn't purchase in the 1000D. Why? I do not understand the media's recent raves about this new 'entry level' gadget, and how it is value-for-money for DSLR beginners. That is the media's attempt to manipulate our buying urge.
It's wise to test the device before blindly making a run for something that is highly rated on the papers, when in actual fact, the flaws of 1000D are starking: too light and blatantly synthetic (full plastic body) for my liking.

While an additional 200 bucks can fetch one a 450D, why settle for the less?

The true danger lies here: Under-utilisation will immediate convert the camera to a white elephant status. Use it or waste it.

Free Online Sex - Explained

You might find the following incident familiar. Do be careful when surfing on the internet and remember to question any suspicious user(s) that shouldn't exist in your Messenger contact list.

I logged in to MSN after a seemingly long week in SMU. It was the first week of school, so there was much things I need to familarise with. Well, obviously I haven't been blogging for a week; I was busy socialising, making friends and enjoying true human connection. I didn't realise how much I had missed out until a week had passed. I knew I am seriously 'behind-posts' and there's a lot of catching up to be done.

So as usual I logged in to Messenger, I authorized 3 people to be added to my contact list. I did it without hesitation, because their nicknames and Hotmail addresses looks normal, for example the account doesn't look to long and the words are coherent. As soon as I added this guy called 'Justin', he greeted me I replied 'Hi!' enthusiastically because I am certain he's one of my SMU friends.

He went:"It's unbelievable someone finally added me", and then asked for my "a/s/l". That was weird. It was 7 years ago since I last encountered a mIRC chat style, and normally my personal contacts would not be asking for an introduction in Messenger. Fishy...
I expanded the tab that shows the MSN display picture, and I swear I bolted from my seat. This guy had a picture of his 'moon' (euphemism for 'buttocks') on MSN! On MY Messenger! If that's not dramatic enough, I also left my photobucket public album URL to display as a quote beside my nickname. Instinctively, I deleted the link and blocked access to the album. Ok, I admit I was paranoid.

However, I was also curious. As much as I was being freaked out, I kept probing him whether he's gay (I am not against homosexuality, but offended by his blatant display). Just as I got him riled up and I waited in anticipation for him to initiate free online sex, Justin sent a URL that leads to his 'private room'.

Whoring oneself on MSN? That's fresh.

P.S. No free lunch.

A Photo Affair

Kei promised to bring me photo hunting this weekend.
I am very very very looking forward to meeting him after a long period of time of non-direct face-to-face communication (a.k.a. Messenger).

But before that. . I would love you to check out his photo album and blog, melancholic shots, laced with a psychedelic edge.. very unique, but lonely.

These is my favorite album: visit Kei's Fotologue

They made me ponder. It's just so you, Kei.

Promising Talents

Drawn by the interesting showcase of the Malay traditional dress, the Baju Melayu, I signed up for the free fashion event jointly organized by SMU Malay Language & Cultural Club and LASELLE College of the Arts, with the event named 'Rewind.Pause.Forward'

Turns out that the supposed static fashion exhibition was a fashion-walk performance coupled with stage musical accompaniments and Malay poetry recitals. It's a unique setting which I'd never experienced before.

The show started off with a member from the SMU Malay Language & Cultural Club setting a rhythm and music pace on a large drum, and then a hand drum which looks like a Kompang (or is it?) blends in.. followed by the guitar, accordion and the violin. It was beautiful.
The theme is set for the the Malay costumes of the past, as the models strut their way out in a painfully slow pace (they have to follow the music).

As the show progress, the music became upbeat, probably to indicate that fashion is progressing towards modernity, models started to walk faster too. The only regret is that they do not pause slow enough for my Sony DSC-W30. The platform is too short for the long-legged models for full strides, some end up making 3 trips thru and fro on the stage. Some did it twice and some once.

Although the walks seemed unorchestrated, the models are professional and to boot, looks gorgeous in the glamorous outfits. In comparison, the male costumes are lack-luster in comparison with the stunning sequined dresses. The live background music blended seamlessly into the show's theme, where the two drummers took over the microphone to sing Malay ballads. At one time, the lead singer crooned a lovely Hindi song. These guys are sure talented.

Of course the main highlight of the night are the designer's art. I like the work by Roslan Mohamad, LASELLE's student designer. It's fashion-forward while retaining the ethnicity in the Baju Melayu. Check out his portfolio design.

French Arachnid in Singapore

46-year old French rock and urban climber, Alain Robert, scaled the Singapore Suntec Tower today, in conjunction with The Straits Times 163rd anniversary celebration. At 5:10PM, he made his ascent up the 176 metre building... with a safety harness.

Why?!! That IS a shame to a kick-ass climber who scaled even greater heights without such protection. On the other hand, this IS Singapore, and there is a family event.. all about having fun and being accident-free. At times, there's more room for complaining (non-constructive) than argument (constructive).

While this was the first time I witnessed his awesome feat, Mr Spidey was urban-climbing Singapore since 1997, where he was authorized to conquer the 18-storey office building in Great World City.

For a man with such voracity and fetish for immense phallic structures, he returned to (secretly) scale the 63-storey Overseas Union Bank Centre of 280 metres, but was arrested on the 21th floor. How can we not applaud a man who lives on his passion: pays himself, fly to little red dot (read: Singapore) and climb.

Seriously my dear country, this man deserves more. He's an environmentalist too :) Now, watch the man who climbs with a conviction:

Are you Infringing?

I attended a short 3 hour talk by Soh Kar Liang, a local registered patent agent, on "Intellectual Property". He covered the following topics: Patent, Trademark and Copyright, a small area amidst the multitude of legal issues associated with securing one's ideas and products.

Simply put, a Patent is a legal protection to secure the rights to a process; Trademark secures the brand; Copyright secures one's exclusive rights to do an act.
I shall not elaborate more on the attributes that define a process, brand, act.. the anomalies for each case and such. Not exactly the way a lawyer defines, but you get my drift..

But I can assure you fun in this supposedly terrible world of EVERYONE who wants to be unique and those who want to be as-unique-as you (and that, you are no longer that way you were in the first place). How do we safeguard the ways we do things? The thing that makes you go: "I knew it's gonna be HOT! (I have to make you pay to use it)".

Here's a guy who wants to monopolize his local playground with the patent on the "method of swinging on a swing". Another goes around collecting royalties with the "Method of exercising a cat (using a laser light)". Remember that patents are territorial, your patent will work where you apply and not anywhere else unless you register for every country you want to. Just in case you have been exercising your cat the same way (or want to do so), a little reminder for those living outside the States ... you are puuurrfectly safe.

Goodbye Yahoo! Auctions (Singapore)

Here's something for the buyers and sellers of the Singapore Yahoo! Auctions: It's Retiring

This event is so pivotal to me that I have to screengrab for the last time, at least not the last day anyone can do so, you will have until 06 October 2008 to grab the last memory of this website. I am after all, their ever-loyal seller and buyer alike, for years! This is a generator of fun and a reduction of my personal junk, I love to continue selling since there's much more piling up at home. While the Yahoo crew is being euphemistic about their vision to focus their $ in other areas, I thought it's an alibi for their inability to support the service.

It sure came at a surprise and disappointment. The site have been experiencing major technical difficulties in the log-in, display of transactions, resubmission of auctions.. such, are what I'd experienced since my last access in mid-May 2008.

I believED that the smart peeps at Yahoo are going to figure out how to solve the conflicts. Somehow, they have been formulating new ways for users to log-in to their accounts, it now requires a complete user ID, for example an affix "@yahoo.com" after your username (I don't see the security implementation here, can someone explain that?). Aside from that, users can choose to include a personalised seal on their Yahoo pages. This anti-phishing method works like the sealing wax on a physical mail (of course with your unique seal design), it ensures that you are on an authentic Yahoo site when you see the same seal the next time you log-in.


Whoa, pretty fancy stuff there. But how about my auctions? Seriously I wouldn't have taken the extra effort to place a picture and check it every moment I log-in. Why, for goodness sake, I have to provide my credentials repeatedly when I enter different Yahoo pages and functions.

I decided to give my last stab at their service, resubmit my inactive auctions, do some shopping for my favorite 'Leg Avenue' products before the closure. But nothing is working anymore! The site is already non-functional despite the stipulated closure date. I guess Yahoo finally rationalised that, instead of making users have a run for a last minute sale.. they would rather direct us to somewhere better...in advance..

I am migrating to Ebay for good.