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christmas @ leicester square

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:59:34 GMT

carousel @ Leicester Square
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Another photo i took with the Lensbaby 3G. The horse could be in sharper focus and brighten up a bit but i love that it reminds me of the vibrance and fun at the fair!

Lensbaby 3G

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 20:55:38 GMT

Leicester Square
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took my new Lensbaby 3G out for a test shoot. so much fun! it took some trial and error before i got the effect i had wanted, but once you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself addicted to this little lens!

zaha hadid: architecture and design

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:13:08 GMT

prototype: glasgow museum of transport - riverside project
click pic to open photo set

went to this exhibition at the design museum last month. zaha hadid really shows incredible imagination and her work is so cool and beautiful, as if they're a statement of i'm here come and admire me. shame she didn't get to build in hk. my fav of the exhibition is her design for the glasgow museum of transport. i didn't read about the concept behind it but love the finesse of the cross section (more info here). the museum should be up and running by 2009. will sure go check it out.

have a break, have a kit kat!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:21:47 GMT

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i played with the foil wrapping all the time when i was a kid, carefully making the logo come on the foil without breaking it or smudging it too much so the chocolate melts. it's part of the ritual of enjoying a bar of kit kat.

it used to be 4 fingers though, which comes in plastic bag packaging now. that's ok, i can live with the 2 fingers. i only wish they'd stop adding the annoying calories message!

science museum

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:20:56 GMT

uniform polyhedra
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i have never visited a science museum before and even took a sick leave to stay away from a school excursion to the one in hong kong. i was in South Ken the other day, i've recently been to the V&A and the science museum is just across the road. i guess that's what prompted me!

but what a pleasant surprise! the boring bits (to me anyway) are all nicely presented and stuff i've not expected. here's my favourites:

1. colourful polyhedra

2. material sculpture: they have a wall full of small patches of different fabrics, materials, textures that you can touch:)

3. ship models: they don't just sit side by side behind glass as in many museums, they're presented in situations, with model waves or sand etc before a beautifully painted backdrop, like this one

kudos to the science museum for making exhibits so interesting!

the longest art gallery in the world

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:23:51 GMT

Stadion Station @ Stockholm
click pic to open photo set

it took me ages to organize my photos from stockholm, simply coz there're so many. in stockholm tunnelbana (metro/underground/mtr) alone i've shot over 300 photos! finally i've sorted them out and uploaded some of them on flickr.

many of the stations were beautifully decorated (see my photo map here), perhaps not as pretty as those in moscow but definitely more modern and eye catching. we spent most of our night time after dinner hunting for interesting stations. it's a shame services are limited after 9-ish - could wait as long as 20min for the next train - there're times we didn't feel very safe in certain dark and quiet stations. some stations were a bit dirty with broken glasses unattended. but overall, the stockholm tunnelbana rocks and i hope they continue to keep the art work well preserved.

half day out @ hyde park

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:59:31 GMT

serpentine gallery pavilion @ hyde park
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made my way to the serpentine gallery and pavilion. this year's pavilion, designed by oalfur eliasson and kjetil thorsen, was a fun architecture. the twisted ropes were great fun to play with visually.

it was a relaxing sunny day. the sun shed some good light on my photos:)

tutankhamun exhibition @ o2

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:30:07 GMT

egyptian hieroglyphics on the floor - left: "was" (symbol of dominion); right: the Eye of Horus symbol
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tickets get sold out very quickly. luckily we managed to book for today. it's very useful to get some ideas on ancient egypt before going to egypt in two weeks time.

i found out i'm far more attracted to the pyramids and mummies than the artifacts >.< i guess if there're explanations of the hieroglyphs on them i might be more interested...

but...i seriously think the whole thing is a ripoff. i have a feeling there're fewer exhibits than the egyptian collection in the british museum (and it's free!) it's also very crowded and i lost patience squeezing in to get a pimp of the exhibits.

AND, we got charged £22 per person for a specific time slot (11.30am-12pm). just when we marvelled at the organizers' efficiency and duly arrived at 11.45, we ended up queuing for 1.5 hours! everyone in the same time slot got grumpy and worried of being thrown out if we didn't get to the entrance by 12. weirdly, tickets are on sale on the spot too so i really don't know why anyone has to buy them in advance (and we had to pay service charge too)!

say merry christmas with iphone

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:36:20 GMT

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not me though. we finally checked out the iphone at apple store this afternoon. as always, lots of pilgrims. it's truly amazing how much you can do with "just" a little phone! i can see myself surfing youtube alot while on the go (oh i've forgotten about the underground >.<) the google maps is also a big treat, something comes in handy when i'm out exploring the city!

i hate its bulkiness, and i suspect the battery gets depleted pretty quick. truth is, if they haven't launched the ipod touch i wouldn't be able to make the comparison right? the ipod touch looks so much slimmer. one big drawback is, unlike its predecessors, it doesn't give you the convenience to import photos from camera directly. well i can always wait for the next gen:)

classical spectacular

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:41:12 GMT

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went to this excellent concert at royal albert hall last night. from what i gathered there would be lots of strobe lights, cannon, fireworks etc, accompanying some landmark pieces.

Paul O'Neill (tenor) and Mark Holland (baritone) were excellent. The Bizet duet they did together was stunning. Apart from the Nessun Dorma Paul did the Bizet duet was my favourite of the night.

the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture was a big surprise. i've heard it before and didn't like it, especially when i listened it on cd (it's a Chicago Symphony Orchestra). The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was sooo good! i'd definitely return for more.

one thing though. it's annoying that people kept flashing their cameras. i was also taking photos but had had my flash turned off before the concert.

my old Pentax Optio S (was too timid to bring my chunky nikon along) had once again proved to be a hugh disappointment. There's a strange sound when it zooms in and out and a small part near the battery wants to come off! Its auto focus isn't working as well too. Well let's see how far it goes before retirement!

the concert left us no time for dinner beforehand so we grabbed some takeaway after concert from a nearby sushi place that we both adore!