Leonography

Remembering Yasmin, a tribute screenings 27 - 28 Nov 2009

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Some years ago, one of my Malaysian friend recommend me to watch Sepet. He told me it is by a Malaysia film maker about a love story between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl in the setting of Malaysia. Never have I imagine someone would be bold enough to make such a movie and such a moving, beautiful but sad movie. I was all the more in shocked to know that the director is not a Chinese but a Malay. It shocked me because the movie capture the some essences of Chinese background with deep understanding like the choice of the soundtrack. The second biggest shocked I got was that the director is not a he but a She. Now it is uncommon to have a female director and more rare to see one in South East Asia.

She was Yasmin Ahmad, a female Award-winning film director who's works touches a lot of hearts with the essence of racial harmony in commercials and films. Unfortunately, she left us on 25 July 2009 from stroke and I felt a great lost with others who saw her works.

*Photo credit to http://blog.sina.com.cn

A event called "Remembering Yasmin" organized by China Square Central & Singapore Film Society on 27 – 28 Nov 09 at China Square Central Outdoor Movie Screening for two of her works. Admission is Free and proceeds from the tribute screenings will be donated to Pertapis Children's Home.

Sepet (Chinese Eyes) 27 Nov 7.30pm
Nineteen-year-old Ah Loong, known as Jason, is in charge of a stall selling pirated VCDs. Contrary to what one might expect his social standing to be, Ah Loong is an incurable romantic with an unlikely hobby--he loves to read and write poetry. Quite content to carry on being the Romeo of the slums, Ah Loong's life takes a sudden turn one day when a sixteen-year-old Malay schoolgirl arrives at his stall in search of Wong Kar-Wai's films.

Gubra (Anxiety) 28 Nov 7.30pm
After the death of her boyfriend, Orked marries an advertising executive and continues to balance her own life and her ongoing involvement with her eccentric parents and their fearsome housekeeper. When a health issue with her father brings her into contact with Alan, the brother of her late boyfriend, they are instantly attracted to each other. Around this time, Orked learns that her husband is having an affair and she begins to make difficult life choices.

Organised by China Square Central & Singapore Film Society

Supported by:
The Estate of Yasmin Ahmad
MHz Films Sdn Bhd
Nusanbakti Corporation Sdn Bhd
Lighthouse Pictures

RSVP at Facebook for this event

iPhone for all Singapore Telco

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:12:00 +0000

Finally all three Singapore Telco, SingTel, M1 and Starhub are selling Apple iPhone.

Back in August 2008, Singtel was the only telco that authorized to carry the Apple iPhone. The lead had given them selling about 100,000 set of iPhone. M1 and Starhub had finally hopped on the bandwagon and by the end of this year, hopefully we can get to see more competitive package of data plan and the cost of owning a iPhone.

If you are planning to get a iPhone, please do note the model of your iPhone should be iPhone 3Gs and your package of data. The last I know regarding data plan, M1 & StarHub have a maximum usage capped at $36.38 while SingTel is capped at $319.93.

Sleeping, another way to lose weight

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Believe or not but one sure way to help you losing weight is to have enough sleep. Too good to be true? Here's what I found out.

Before we proceed, we must understand that our body has a time clock and have a management system of our resources to provide us energy for our daily demands. If we sleep less, our body will have to generate more energy and if this prolong, our body will start to store more fat (energy) for the "rainy days".

Studies had shown insufficient sleep can cause the release of stress hormone that stimulate hunger and result in eating more. It is therefore logical, that you have enough rest, you are likely to be less hungry. As long as your input do not increase or reduce, your weight should remain if not decreased.

The next issue I will be sharing is tackle is hunger. I will be doing some sharing on some of my weight lost finding for a healthy lifestyle regularly (on every Friday). So if you are interest in it, do subscribe to my RSS or follow my Twitter. Stay tune for the next post. :)

Michael Jackson This is It DVD and Blu-ray Pre-order out!

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:36:00 +0000

As we know by now, Michael Jackson This is it CD is out in most stores. The songs inside the CDs arethe songs that MJ sang in the documentary movie. It was arranged according to the movie order too.

You maybe pleased to know that amazon is taking pre-orders for Blu-ray and DVD. for Michael Jackson "This is it".
If you order now, you will enjoy great saving of about 30% off! Don't worry, they ship everywhere in the world.
Hurry get the Blu-ray or DVD now!

As we speak, we are entering the last week of this movie that is showing at theaters around the world. If you have not catch that movie, do so soon. You will never see such a super star again globally.

Michael Jackson This is it

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Three weeks ago when I find out that the ticket are on sale, I booked two tickets for Michael Jackson, "This is it". My brother and I have been to both Michael Jackson concert that was hold in Singapore. We both still have not accepted the fact that our teenage pop idol had passed away...

Before the movie, I was both excited and sorrowful. How will the movie turned out? Will I have a good memory of MJ final act? There are young and old in that cinema that day and they all are Michael Jackson fans. Before the show started, hits of MJ was playing and everyone was enjoying the songs. As the starting credit rows, there were a deep silent. Everyone was reading the words and when the moment MJ appear on screen, everyone started to breath.

There he was, the King of pop on the stage with smile on his fans singing and dancing away. Although he appear to be skinny, he was very much having energy singing "Don't stop till you get enough". As more of his rehearsal was shown, I totally lost the sense of space and time.

MJ in his 50 was full of energy giving his all even in rehearsal. You can see that there was a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment in his act. During "Beat it", he was rehearsing some move and he was so into the moment that he did some move that I doubt any 50 year old man can do that. The person sitting next to me affirmed by saying "I can't believe he can dance so well in his 50". I couldn't imagine if I were to do what he did.

Most of his old hits was remake with new MTV such as Thrillers, The way you make me feel and smooth criminal. It was great to see how MJ interact with his dancers, musicians and backup singers. If MJ was not so professional in his rehearsal, this movie may not even make the cuts. MJ did not give up on his believe, hope and ideal when he mention about the world in the Earth songs.

In the middle of the movie, I recalled how I felt his concerts both of his Dangerous and History tour in Singapore. The atmosphere and the showmanship of MJ were so overwhelming.

Through out the movie, the Cinema was fulled with cheering, laughing (when MJ said or did something out of our expectation) and some even crying. And when the movie ended with Man in the Mirror, everything in the cinema was frozen for a moment and follow by wave of applause.

The credits started rolling but no one was getting out of their seats. Everyone stay as if to see if they are any spoiler at the end of the movie. Maybe we hope to see that MJ passing was not real. MJ is alive but sadly that did not happen.

As I stepped out of the cinema, I was glad that Michael did show joy and energy in performance. I recalled what MJ said about wanting his concert to be able to bring the viewers to another place for that moment and he did for This is it. He did make us lost in where we are and stepped into Michael Jackson working days. If only he was given more time...

Michael, I hope you are at a better place now fill with love and joy. People may misunderstood you in some ways but no one has ever doubted your talent and the moments you gave to us. You are still dearly missed.

A graph says many things

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:48:00 +0000

There's a saying, "A picture says a thousand word." and one of those picture can be a graph.

A graph can be a grange a number of useful information. Here are some of those of which how many will you agree to it?

1. NASA in the News

2. Perception of 1 Minute (True)

3. When you fall asleep easiest. (True)

4. Probability of an honest answer to the question "Am I fat?" (True)

5. Use of Laser Pen (Very true as I seen many play with it even when it was not in presentation)

Plastic Surgery Vs Originality

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:45:00 +0000

There is a saying that how we look have to do with fate and genes. In the age we are living with however we can change that if we are willing to go under the knife.

Plastic Surgery is very popular in some advanced countries. To some it can boost self-confident but generally people still hold on to the value of originality. It has always been an issue when an actor or actress was accused to go under the knife. Most of them I know had deny such accusations and claiming it was a natural process een when the evidences were obvious. Why?

To some it has became a trend if they have the money to have double eyelids, bigger assets, nose job and other cosmetic changes. Have you ever wonder why many people look the same in some country? Sadly the off spring of that individual will still inherit the original gene. It would certainly be a scene when the child realized that he/she is an alien as he/she did not resemble to their parents. Of course in due time, the parents could have sent the child to go under the knife too.

Plastic surgery can be addictive and if one value cosmetic value, it will never stop at one if he/she had the resources to do so. Keeping in mind that some of the job done may not look good when ages and may need a period maintenance. It was then more changes will be added by the patient.

Personally I am prefectly fine if it was use for restoration procedure such as those victims who was badly burned, born defects or disfigured by accidents. For such, it is really a gift of God to man.

So what is your stand? Are you for Originality or for Plastic Surgery?

My Mcdonalds Monopoly Extra and Trades

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:53:00 +0000

Here are my updates of Extras and wants for Mcdonalds Monopoly

Extras
Robinson Road
Queenstown
Marina Bay
Ang mo Kio
Farrer Road
Geylang

Want
Sentosa Cove
Joo Chiat Road
Toa Payoh
Bishan
Thomson Road
Tanjong RHU
Shenton Way
Newton Road
Scotts Road
Ochard Road

Mcdonalds Monopoly Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Mcdonalds Monopoly had finally reached Singapore. All you need to do is to buy an extra Value meal to get a property card and stand a chance to win the various prizes from 22 Oct – 31 Dec 2009

There are two type of wins. Instant win and collect Win prizes...

For the Instant win, we have:

$10 ToysRus Discount Voucher (200,000) Redemption before 28 Feb 2010

Rubik's Cube 3x3 Version from ToysRus (1,000) Redemption before 28 Feb 2010

$10 Courts Discount (0ff $100 purchase) (50,000) Redemption before 3 Mar 2010

$3 Esso Fuel Discount (off $50 Fuel purchase) (250,000)Redemption before 3 Mar 2010

For Collect Win, the requirements for collecting as a set for a chance for the prizes are as follows:

50 x 32GB Touchscreen MP3 Player
Geylang Road (m111) + Joo Chiat Road (m112)

100 x $200 ToyRus Gift Voucher
Ang Mio Kio (m113) + Toa Payoh (m114) + Bishan (m115)

20 x $400 Jetstar.com Travel Voucher
Queenstown (m116) + Farrer Road (m117) + Thomson Road (m118)

15x 2N Malacca/ KL Cruise for 4 persons on Suprestar Virgo
Bayshore Road (m119) + Amber Road (m120) + Tanjong Rhu (m121)

10 x Courts Prizes worth $3,000 Each
Shenton Way (m122) + Robinson Road (m123) + Raffles Place (m124)

15 x 100,000 ESSO smiles points
River Valley (m125) + Newton Road (m126) + Scotts Road (m127)

1x 7D hawaii flycruise for 4 persons on pride of America Worth over $24,000
Holland Road (m128) + Orchard Road (m129) + Ardmore Park (m130)

1 x $50,000
SENTOSA COVE (m131) + MARINA BAY (m132)

I have some extra Pieces of properties. Subscribe my RSS feed or follow my Twitter updates! If you have extras, leave a comment!

Good Luck! You may head over to Mcdonald Monopoly Singapore too.

Who's that girl?

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Recently I show this artwork to a friend of mine and less than 5 seconds, he can guess the female artist I took the reference from.

How could that be? I drew with some modification in pencil...Okay mostly on the body parts to make it more prefect. LOL

If you think you know the answer, leave a comment with your guesses.

Singapore Unique Signage?

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:12:00 +0000

They said good template can stand the test of time. This sign template unique to Singapore has been around as long as I can remember.

They are four languages imprinted in red wording on white background. This design has been around as long as I can remember.

My Artwork #1: Believe in Angels

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:46:00 +0000

Since my first homepage at Geocities is closing, I have decided to share some of my old artwork there at this blog. There are done mostly in the 1990s. I was learning inking and try some comic drawing using shading.

Believe in Angels
This piece was inspired by a photograph of a play at that time and the name of my art was inspired by a tag line in the first The Crow movie. The man in the drawing was in pain but there is no saying the angel is to deliver or to harm. It is open to interpretation.

What do you think?

Casio G-Shock Man-Box: Watch & Vinyl Figure

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:39:00 +0000

My first watch was a Casio and I didn't know Casio had Vinyl figure for their watches now!

G-Shock latest creation in September features a special edition G-shock Man Box. DW-6900 and BG-5601 each come with a matching G-Shock Man Vinyl figure.

If that is not enough for you, there are three G-Shock figures designed by designer Shiro Nakano for celebrating the 25th Anniversary of G-Shock watch. The figure come with some hands articulations.

Credit to akihabaranews
Some of the watches are available now at E-Casio.

Good and Bad Graffiti

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

After reading khengsiong and SK blogs on graffiti, I have decided to tag along to show some of the graffiti I capture last weekend.

Generally in Singapore, Graffiti are not allow in public. However at some desalinated area like play park, graffiti are allowed. Most of the time, graffiti is an expression in a form of communication to others. It is common to see big bold wording of some names as a graffiti. Most of the time, I have no idea what the word means. Every now and then someone will spray over some name and design. It's kind of a graffiti war.

It is rare to see good artistic graffiti.

And when it does like the one below who expressed as a tribute to Michael Jackson, someone destroy that piece of art with rubbish! No doubt some may not like MJ nor the art but does such spraying help in anything?

For goodness sake, if you cannot do better graffiti, don't destroy others artwork! Maybe that is why Singapore banned graffiti at large as much are more nonsense than any artistic value.

When Warranty date start counting?

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:20:00 +0000

When we buy a consumer product, one of the concern we have is the warranty period. In the former days, warranty card was a essential in verifying the date that the product was sold and the warranty period.

A typical warranty card will consist of two copies. One for consumer copy while another to post it to the manufacturer for documentation. On the sent out copy, will have the company stamp of the shop that sold you the product with a date written by hands. Most of the time however, the date was not written as the shop would want to be nice for consumer to fill their own date in and sent it off later. Because of this, consumers who plan on reselling in the near future will not want to fill the warranty card as it would fetch a better price in the open market.

Not knowing that the time has change, many second hand buyers still buy into the fact if the warranty card is unfilled, the product manufacturers will honor the warranty.

In truth today, products manufacturers have a way to know the actual day that the product was sold and start to count the warranty period. As the shop often send in their order and status of stock to the supplier, the manufacturer now can monitor their product by serial number. In this ways, the consumer may no longer need to send their warranty card and in return fair to the manufacturers as well.

So next time when you want to buy something second hand and warranty is a concern to you. It is best to ask the seller for receipt and the actual date when he/she bought the product. Warranty card may not be filled but that does not mean it is still under warranty.

PSP GO launched

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:03:00 +0000

PSP was officially launched yesterday worldwide. PSP GO is a new design which evolved from the PSP console which had a mixed feeling from the PSP fans.

The PSP Go! Specifications is as follows:
- 3.8" screen (smaller than former PSP in width)
- 43% lighter than previous version
- 16 GB on-board flash memory
- Bluetooth support (New Feature)
- No UMD drive (maybe that is why it is 43% lighter)
- Download games and movies via Playstation Store

As a PSP owner (PSP 1006). Is this a pull factor for me? Allow me to share my concerns.

Firstly, the PSP GO design do not grow on me. It does not look comfortable nor durable. I had some experience with sliding phones and from what I experience the wear and tear of sliding may affect LCD screen sooner or later. Compare to the former PSP which is more kid friendly in term of durability? Enough said.

The arrangement of the buttons and joystick looked cramp together. One can only tell how good it is after 3 hours of intense playing action games.

Another concern is where to get the games? How to buy online? Is it secure? For current PSP owner, you can never play your stack of UMD games again because PSP GO do not have a UMD drive. Consider that?

I am pretty sure I am not the only one who have such concerns. Unless such concerns are address, PSP GO may not have a good pull factor for PSP owner to buy a PSP GO.

Photography of Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:56:00 +0000

Was playing with my Canon 500D over the weekend and the best thing to start shoots are dogs.

The black beauty look to the horizon for something.

Have you found what you are looking for?

Fluffy looking dog. I detected some movement but he just look so gentle. Gentle for an old dog.

Your Local Time Widget on your blog

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:15:00 +0000

I have been looking for a widget that is able to display my local timing at my blog. Most of the widget clock online make use of the visitor's system clock to show the timing. However I have a different need. I want my visitor to know the time of where I am. Finally I have found my solution over at Localtime.info.

You can choose a country of where you are or where you want the clock take the reference from. You can decide to have Digital clock or Analogue Clock design. With that choice, you can go further to customize some color and format. There also offer some custom countdown and other festival countdown to download.

Other widget such as Weather Widget, Exchange Rate Widget and Currency Converter Widgets.

I have added one on this blog. Now my readers will know the timing of where I am when they read the content. :)

My new DSLR Canon 500D

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:28:00 +0000

I have never think of getting a DSLR until recently for my family needs. I was asking around and I got some recommend me Nikon while other for Canon. I went to Commex 2009 to ask for more and have my hands on. The sales personnel there are not very fantastic at both booths. Maybe because it was crowded but still it is not an excuse.

When I was at Nikon booth, a young salesman was challenging me with my questions. No doubt I am still quite green in DSLR, I am one potential customer and my questions need to be addressed. While having passion and knowledge of your product is good but as a sales personnel, what is more importantly is your tone. I was rather offended but I kept my peace. No matter how good Nikon product has been, the services already left me a bad taste. I can understand they are they pushing for commission but that is not the way to do business. So what you have freebies? Regardless of the freebies, I have decided to head to some establish camera shops at Funan Shopping Center to look around.

Since I tried out Nikon, I asked for Canon. The functions are quite similar and what I am going for is pricing, service and support. After about 45 minutes getting my questions answered and hands on, I went for a Canon 500D.

I did not get the lens but got myself another lens for macro shooting which I am more incline to. They even come with a FREE crumpler camera bag!

It was a major purchase but we feel happy. Expect to see some photography post in the days to come here at Leonography.

Join in Michael Jackson This is it!

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:08:00 +0000

It is slightly more than a month before Michael Jackson "This is it" going to hit the theaters on 29 October 2009. This movie will be screening for two weeks only.

Beside offering fans to join in at the facebook, they also allow fans to upload their photo as a Mosaic over as a poster at their website. Will you be another part of Michael Jackson last movie?

Visit to Singapore St John Headquarters

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:29:00 +0000

I have the opportunity to revisit the Singapore St John Headquarters a week ago. I became a member of St John Ambulance Brigade at my secondary school days. It was not really a popular choice in term of uniform group but I find it was the most useful and relevant one as the knowledge of first aid are really useful.

St John HQ is situated at the busy town area at Beach Road. It was one of the old buildings at that area. The building in many ways has some rich history through the growing times and here are some of them.

At the external of the building near the gate, was this classic piece of logo.

The logo was neatly arrange with Mosaic.

Below the logo was a monument that marked the laying of the foundation stone by Sir Robert Brown Black, Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Colony of Singapore on 23rd of November 1957.

The grand opening of the HQ was on 23rd July 1960 marked by the following plaque.

The building was 3 stories in height and there was an old lift in the HQ. The lift was a donation and it is still working to this day. Just look at the buttons control and you will get a feel how old the lift is.

After close to 20 years since my last visit, the HQ did not change much. Maybe just more air-condition ans some new paints but the architecture and the interior remain very much the same. St John Ambulance after all is a non-profit organization where every cent they collected was given back to the community and public medical services.

This visit to the HQ really bring back many fond memories I have in my secondary days attending meeting, training and flag day preparation. I was glad to be a part of St John Ambulance Brigade as I learn quite a lot of life skill there.

The passing of "Crayon Shin-chan" Creator, Yoshito Usui

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:56:00 +0000

It seems like 2009 is a sad year. I just learned that the Creator of Crayon Shin-chan aka 蜡笔小新, Yoshito Usui age 51 was found dead on a mountain in Japan.

I started to read Crayon Shin-chan in 1996. I was in camp and some of my friends were reading it. I was not attracted to the books at first for judging the cover as the drawing look like kids drawing. However the laughter of my friends reading the comic make me wonder why. So I decided to pick up book one and at the very first chapter, I started to chuckle.

The innocent and honestly of a simple minded 5 year old boy who happen to have a growing interest in woman got me hocked. Even his family member reaction like the mother and father were so well scripted as a comedy that most of us can identify with. Even when the drawing of the comic look kiddish, the content however is not suitable for children.

Some of my family members also a big fan of the Comic and Anime. I bet they will be sad when I break this news to them.

This is it! Michael Jackson trailer

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Finally Michael Jackson "This is it" movie is coming. Michael was so full of energy and happiness in the trailer.

The thing that touch me was when he said "I feel so bless that I can give the world back"... but what most of the world has done to you Michael? :( A certain sadness comes along after I watched the Trailer... Nonetheless, I am going to catch the movie just for you Michael.

Apple + Nike = Healthier Lifestyle?

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:57:00 +0000

When is the last time you went for a run? I always enjoy my run or jog when put my mind somewhere else as I run. In that case, I can run longer and further and when I start concentrating or think about my run, I will feel tired and stop shortly. In time like that, music do help.

Apple and Nike had recently work together to make running more fun. Making use of a Pedometer and synchronizing to a iPod Nano, it will keep a data of your run while pacing you with your music on your iPod.

After the run, you can sync your iPod to Nike website and it will display your various progression of your run. It can also record the number of steps you walk everyday when the pedometer is with you. In that you can see how much you have walk and exercise in a day.

Here's a personal sharing of someone first run using the nikeipod and pedometer .

So it seems this combination of Apple and Nike is a healthier one.

Where and Ways to Sell your Custom Products Online

noreply@blogger.com (LEon) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Ecommerce has been around for quite sometime now. If you are an artist, by that I mean you make something with your own hands, there are couple of sites that provide a shop front to sell your custom stuff online.

If you are a writer, digital artist, Photographer or a musician, you can sell your artwork at E-Junkie or kiqlo or deviantart.

E-Junkie provide shopping cart for selling of ebooks, mp3 tracks/ albums, software, icons, fonts, artwork, phone cards, event tickets, cds, posters, books, t-shirts and much more for a fees. Here is a review on E-junkie.

Kiqlo is a free tool that allows students and artists to feature and share or sell their digital files like pictures, eBooks, animations.

If you have handmade custom products such as Dolls, Artwork, pottery and others handmade, you can consider to sign up with www.etsy.com. It is a community of artist majoring in homemade/handmade items. You can sell others stuff if it fit to the 3 categories: Handmade, Supplies and Vintage (over 20 years).

Do note that etsy do charge a fees for sellers. You may read more about the fees and how to sell it.