Went to the polyclinic today.

Yup. Went to the polyclinic today. Idris went for his immunisation. The next one will be when his is about three years old. He was calm as any toddler his age could be. He did not screamed when given the first one on his arm, but he did give his all when the second one came on his right thigh. But he seems fine. 

We hope, seeing that Eid is so near, he will be fine to celebrate it. I mean, no fever and all that.

Learning something new, Sengkang Polyclinic, X100s

He is asleep now.

Slim

A strange thing happened yesterday

Idris with Tiger, X100s

Adam did not go to school yesterday. He over slept. It seems that those people that mattered overslept as well. He woke up at half past 8. He was woken up by Fitri, who woke up a few minutes before. He called me, asking for help, stating his situation. It was fine with me, I half expected this to happen. He had a late night the night before, and he woke up at half past four in the morning for his sahur. Even I would love to over sleep.

Anyway, he did call me, and I would have followed him to school to explain everything to his teacher, except that, I was in Masai. I was at my father's place.

Red flowers, Masai, X100s

Periwinkle, Masai, X100s

I was at Masai, to visit my father, whom I have last seen some 12 to 14 days ago. Glad the fine and glad he was his usual self. Left at 11.30 to collect the baju kurung from Risa. Did not get lost as I thought I would and finally reached home at close to 2.00pm.

After iftar, Wifey did a bit of flashcard sessions and I can't help smiling as Idris roars every time Wifey said "Tiger".

That was what happened yesterday.

Flickering lights

I has been a few long hours since I hear idris wailing. He has been chatty
almost the whole day. And his appetite has improved.

Today, my two sons set up the flickering lights for eid.  It was an
eventful evening, seeing that there were more noise rather than actually
doing it. When it finally was set up, to adam dismay, it did not look like
any gun he has ever seen. But then, it's the process, rather than the end
that is more important.

Oh man! Idris is still eating and it's pass his bedtime.

Su took child care leave today.  I think it's her first after many many
years in the service. I guess it was worth it.

Yes, it was worth it.

Slim.

Idris is sick.

Seems I have a bad day today. First of all, idris was sick. He refused to drink his milk and was up all night. I thought he was hungry,  so I made him a plate of instant ramen.  Not the whole plate of course, but he took some. That kept him happy from 4.30 to 6.30 in the morning. At 9.00am, we decided to go to kk hospital. We were  there until 3pm.

The doctor at first thought that he might be having dengue. But blood test results were negative. Some ulcers were spotted at the back of his mouth. Some of the ulcers are at his tonsils. Doctor said that it's most probably viral. Thus symptomatic treatment were ordered. Paracetamol acting as an analgesic and ibuprofen for fever.

It's a nightmare trying to get him to take the medicine. More like wwe,  small monsters version.

It's 8.25 pm and hopefully, he can go to bed. I know he is very tired, and no matter how tired I am, su must be at least 10 times more tired.

Today was suppose to be the day when we meet up with my regular group of friend for our annual iftar. I guess there is always a first time. We cannot possibly go when idris is suffering from something contagious.

One thing I can say about this kid, he is physically very strong.

Met a cousin while we were at the hospital. Her son, been getting fits for the past few days. And very high fever.

Luckily he did not have to be warded.

Good night. Slim.

Saturday iftar.

Today, we iftar at my in law's. We had delicious food. Again, I wonder about the less fortunate. Not just those in Gaza,  but those nearer to me. I know I can do more than just sitting here and typing this post.

As usual, we just magrib and while I sit here writing this post, my wife is bathing my youngest son. He is having a fever. Went to the doctor just now and his temperature was hovering at 40. He seems to be in such high spirit though. Lifted us too.

Slim.

Iftar.

As I sat here, waiting for magrib,  waiting to enjoy the food that is in front of me, can't help wondering what are the fathers in Gaza,  Palestine having for iftar.

Bismillah.

Its over and it has begun.

Glad that you are back!

Finally, you are back. What a relief to see you standing there next to our sons. Finally normalcy has been reinstated. 

Gifts from Mak

Now, the new beginning has begun, that is, the start of Ramadan. Yesterday night was the first time I went for Terawih with Adam. He has grown into a young man now. Takes care of me with the foresight of a mature adult. I am blessed. Now let us see what Allah has in mind for the young one.

Buying food stuff at Haig Road.

Hopefully this Ramadan will bring lots of good news and tidings from Allah s.w.t.

In Say Allah.

3rd Day

Is it almost almost over?
At this stage I am counting the number of days you have been gone. It seems so long. I have yet to start counting down the days when you will be back.

The day started early enough. I woke up at 6.15, hoping you would call, but it seems you were out. So I did the next best thing, I continue my sleep. Woke up at about half past 9. Brought the boys down to the badminton court, but you already knew that. Went up, Idris slept for a few minutes and we had lunch together. Fitri fried some rice and Adam loved it.

Dinner time was spent alternating between the living room and the common corridor. In between we had visits by Malcolm, who played monopoly, and Wan Achik. Wan Achik came with Calli. She is so thin! Idris looks more "well built" than her.

We ordered Pizza, Boston, for you, Hawaiian and Tuscany. Fitri cooked fish lemak cili paid, and we still had yesterday's chicken soup. I think, if we play our cards right, there should not be any more cooking until Friday.

Love the pictures that you took. I wonder how much was the kebab...

Here are some pictures that I took for the day.

Adam with Malcolm

Editing a movie

Me and my shadow

Brotherly Expression

Idris and Calli

Following Adam.

Take 5

Clean up

Kicking around

Mak called

Lunch

Monopoly, and Idris is the lookout

Mr Grumpy

Pole Dancing

Putting on shoes for the kick around

Sayang

Examining

Talking to Mak

I guess thats it. Hope to see you soon.

Slim

2nd day

Su has left for the States on Saturday night / Sunday morning. So I guess this is the second day I am living the bachelor's life. Although I have two boys who will say otherwise. It has been good. My helper helps lots. My feet hurts lots too. The young one seems not to exhibit any withdrawal symptoms while the mom is not here while the older seems to be able to grasp the fact better. Seeing that this would be his third time that he has to be alone with me.

All in all, I am happy I have them. Keeps me on my toes. So darling, if you are reading this, I hope you know that you are wanted still. I said my I love yous on whats app and hangouts and whatever, but it does not beat being able to say it while snuggling with you on our too soft mattress...

Here are pictures of what happened today.

Tea Break, instant noodles, Adam's idea.

Wanting to come up the bed.

Wrestling. As usual, the older one lets the younger one win.

Multi tasking

David and Goliath. Role play is good?

Trying to spoil my other camera.

Now he wants the smaller camera.

And take 5 while answering a call.

Love you.

milk tea

milk tea, a photo by Nor Salman on Flickr.

Went to Satay by the bay for some breakfast. Was served this cup of coffee and bread with kaya and toast in between. Prior to this, I was at marina barrage doing my morning walk. It was boring. I kind of lost my mojo that day.

It has been a few days since that day. I hope to get walking again.

Slim

Via Flickr:
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sold!

Manage to sell my A65 together with the flash and a 24-85mm lens. Threw in a 50mm 1.4 for good measure. All in all, its a win-win situation for buyer and seller. Now to find out why my lenses have fungus...

Slim

Did not go..

Walk
Did not go for a walk today. Went for a drive instead. Drove to Boon Keng. Met a guy, who introduced me to a lens, and I bit the bullet and brought her home...
heh heh..

Newly acquired.

Pictures of yesterday's walk.

Met a

Wooden Crosses

Met a friend for breakfast yesterday. And so, I went for breakfast before I went for my morning walk. Met him tag Bedok Corner. Talked for awhile and decided to head to the Far East for a change. Since it already half past nine, traffic should have improved.
I was right. It was a pleasant drive, all 15 minutes of it.

Changi Chapel Museum
I stopped by at the Museum on the way to the beach. Along with my trusty EPL2 and the Minolta 50mm F2.0, I trudge along into the museum. There was only a bus and another car in the car park, so human traffic was light. As such, I could take my time, doing my walk. I am not a Christian, but being in that chapel, museum whatever and looking at the exhibits stirred some feeling in me. Feelings of those who died, and wondering how they must have felt and how their loves ones could have felt. I was sad.

Left by other visitors.

I spent a good 30 minutes reading and all in all, I said a few al-fateha for those that had fallen.

Changi Village
I then proceed to Changi Beach. I parked the car at Car Park No 1. and amble towards the beach. The day was windy, and I must say, that it was a distance. I expected the walk from where I park my car to the beach to be a short one. It was not as short. I had to rest as my feet was hurting and the sun was already up. Although it was cloudy, the light was generally flat.


Took some pictures while I was there.  The usual pictures of the boats came out as being too usual, so I had to improvise. In other words, I had to take what I can get. All in all I spent a good 45 minutes there and I only reached home at 12.30 pm. That was the longest time I spent on my morning walks.

A couple

One of the good things you can get while taking pictures over there is that you can be really close to the boats as they manoeuvre out into the sea.
Slim.

Having a conversation.

Went for a walk.

HOORAY!

I went for a walk today. Did not went too far, distance wise, but spent more than an hour on my feet. I can feel my feet and my body getting the their strength back. I think the last time I walked was about a month ago. I missed it. Here are some pictures I took.

I used my EPL2 and my oldy but trusty Minolta 50mm F2.0.

More pictures at my flickr page.

I went to Singapore Botanical Garden. Although I did not actually went in, these pictures are took just by the car park, I did sweat. I took a break when I reached the reception area. There were big dogs and beautiful dog owners who took them for a walk. Woot!

Ok. I guess this is all for now. I'd see if I can take more pictures of Idris in the playground later.

Slim

I am missing something.

Must
I must be missing something. I do not know what it is but I am always seeking things to buy on Ebay or clubsnap buy and sell forums. I have a feeling that I am missing my Minolta 40mm f2.0 M mount lens. I love that lens. I sold it or rather, traded it for a Contax G 90mm lens. I should not have but the lens is getting old and because it was on my nex 7 most of the time, it has shown its age.

As in the previous post, I have bought several new items, and one of them is a leica. A 60mm 2.8 macro Elmarit. That is quite a mouthful. I do not even know which word comes first. What I do know is that its a German made Leica. I realise that one can get this lens cheap. I traded my CZ 28mm 2.8 ZM mount for this. But I think, and this is my opinion, it more than able to make up for it's monetary value. I enjoyed using this lens. I wished I would have gotten this lens sooner.

Blue Bells

I love the look of the out of focus background. I believe that I have never seen it before. The colour produced is fantastic. Its rich but not over saturated.

Currently, I am using the M43 system and I more often than not, I am using a SGD$120 EPL2. I love this camera for its ergonomics and its functionality. However, its a mismatched for the lens. The lens makes the whole set up front heavy. Nevertheless, I find myself enjoying the front heaviness, quite a different feel to using the EPL2 with the Panasonic 14mm. One of the smallest lens I have in my arsenal.

Ant on a leave

Thus, that is why I am looking forward to getting an M mount lens, to replace my Minolta 40mm. I am looking forward to get the Voigtlanded 40mm f1.4 SC. I would think that it will be bigger than my Minolta but not as big as the Leica and hopefully not as heavy as Contax G 45mm planar + the metabones adapter.

If everything goes well, the lens should be in my hand next week.

Slim

Panasonic 14mm 2.5

New toy
Well, strictly speaking its not a new toy. Its newer. I bought it used. I bought it for SGD$180. I bought it yesterday. Thus, used, $180 and yesterday should provide an inkling as to how excited I was in using this lens.

EPL2 and Panasonic 14mm 2.5

Not yet
I have to use it for a full day yet. But the pictures look promising. Its small, much smaller than the panasonic 20mm, another new lens that I just bought.

This lens provide me with a fov of 28mm, and although many would argue that a 35mm (the olympus 17mm) or a 24mm (the olympus 12mm) would give a more satisfying photography experience, I beg to differ. I like this focal length. It is more practical. It gives less distortion and its much much cheaper than either of those two lenses I mentioned.

Wide
I would think that this 14mm is a safe bet for those who wanted a bit more oomph as compared to the 14mm in the kit lens. The improvements in low light picture taking is in itself a boon.

Here are some pic which I took today using my EPL2.

As I exited out of the tunnel

The traffic was at a standstill. I wind down the windows and I took a snap.

Hat on a dashboard

Wife made this. Its still on my dashboard.

Stay tuned for more pictures.

Slim