An awesome weekend filled with food. We stuffed ourselves silly with 3 seafood meals, and a durian feast, all for only S$80+ per person! That also included accomodation at a nice beach chalet. We had lobsters (twice!), crabs, prawns, oysters, and a table full of food at every meal. *burp*

We took a day off from work and flew down to Florida for the 4th of July weekend. It was really hot in Florida, but I managed to do some diving there! We went down to Miami Beach and Key West to see the sights, and it turned out to be quite a road trip!

The IBM new hire network organised a sailing trip at Oyster Bay, Long Island, and I tagged along. It was a 90-minute drive to get there and we spent about 2 hours on the water in Sonar 23s. The Sonars were a little smaller than the J24s I was used to, but also a lot more forgiving on the water. Our instructor was also very good, and did a very good job of explaining sailing techniques without being overly technical. Overall a very good introduction to sailing.

Download the pictures here!

We got a last minute invitation to go down to Central Park to see/listen to the world-renowned New York Philharmonic perform. It was quite an adventure getting there.

The Great Lawn in Central Park was packed full of people, blankets, and picnic baskets.

The music was pretty good, and I was quite impressed by the sound systems and speakers.

The girlfriend finally got a flight to NY! Coincidentally, Ros was on the flight before that, so I went to meet up with her in the City before the gf arrived. It was nice meeting her again, and she even gave up her room so I could sleep on the bed. I had lots of fun meeting her friends and watching Sex and the City.

The gf arrived on Monday, which was my birthday (what luck!), and I spent the next 2 days with her touring the city and shopping. I met her friends for some drinks and it was quite an adventure! Everyone started making a lot of noise after being suitably 'lubricated', and it was a really entertaining evening. I'm sure they'll have more fun back in Frankfurt.

Download the pictures below!

Ros and friends

Drinks at Chow Bar

The other 2 guys from Singapore finally arrived, so we rented a car and went up to Maine for the weekend. We visited Portland, Freeport, and Bar Harbor in Acadia National Park. We spent US$100 per person on lobster dinners and had a good time enjoying the verdant landscapes of Maine.

Click here to see our route

It was a great place to try some panoramic shots, and you can see them in the album, or click below to see larger images with greater detail.

Maine-scapes
1. Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park
2. Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
3. Northern view from Cadillac Mountain

I took a day off from work to meet Shihui's buddy who was in the Big Apple for a couple of days. She kindly offered (no, actually I asked, and she accepted) to bring back the camera and a lens for me as I didn't really want to ship it back in a box. She had a friend along with her and we went shopping and sight-seeing. They sure turned up the temperature in the City by a degree or two! I really regretted wearing a knit-shirt that day...

We went round to Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Coach, and had lunch at Carnegie Deli which was just right beside the hotel! It was great fun being around them and a refreshing change from the over-dose of testosterone in my normal life.

Call me the next time you guys are in town, ok? There's still Woodbury Commons to shop till you drop. Or go broke.

Sorry guys, they're both neither single, nor available so don't ask me for their numbers/email/msn... Take a number!

Ching-hua invited a bunch of us for brunch at Perilla, a restaurant by the winner of the first season of Top Chef. I had the Spiced Duck Burger, with Spiced Fries, avocado and the usual toppings for $16. It looked really interesting on the menu, but it was disappointing. I expected maybe slices of duck breast or something, but it turned out to be minced duck. It was overly salty and didn't taste anything like duck at all.

After the meal we trooped down to the MoMA to feed the intellectual kid. There were a couple of nice exhibits, but it was really crowded. As expected, some of the exhibits were questionable pieces of art in my book, evoking the usual "Hey, I could do that too!"

It was great meeting up with everyone, and here's to more such eat & greet outings!

This weekend's activity was to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens followed by lunch at NYC's best steak-house -- Peter Luger's.

Bimal was nice enough to pick us up again and drove to the BBG together with Terry. We spent about an hour there taking a walk and me having a good time with the new toys. Stomach's growling, it was time to head for lunch at Peter Luger's!

The steak was excellent, and the company entertaining. Before we even knew it, 2 hours had gone, and we were terribly stuffed.

Looking forward to more lunch 'dates' again!

This week, we hit Boston together with Bimal. He was nice enough to pick us up on Friday and put us up in his cozy bachelor pad for the night. We managed to convince him to let us pay for his gas, and also buy him lunch at Boston.

We went whale-watching in the morning and saw 10-20 whales of 4 different species. We saw Minke, Fin, Right, and Humpback whales in the 90 minutes that we spent at the feeding grounds of Stellwagen Bank. The entire trip took about 3 hours, and Bimal was really drowsy after taking some Dramamine.

Lunch was along the Freedom Trail, and the food was good although a little pricey. The forecast was for rain in Boston, but the weather held up till we finished walking.

Overall, a very nice trip with Bimal, whose generosity and hospitality is much appreciated!

With Spring and warmer temperatures, we took a weekend roadtrip down south to Washington and Philadelphia.

Everything was on a budget. We rented a car with corporate rates, and got a Chevy Malibu for US$131 for3 days. We stayed overnight in a hotel using coupons for US$50 a night. Food was local, but the best stuff that the locals go for.

It was a 270 mile drive down to Washington, and we got there in about 4 hours after stopping to make hotel bookings. Capitol Hill was nice, and we took a long walk (almost a mile) down to the Tidal Basin where the cherry blossoms were. Dinner was at Fisherman's Wharf, where fresh seafood is cooked on the spot. We had a great feast before the fireworks over the waterfront started. Good thing I brought my tripod along!

Philadelphia was a short stay. We went to see Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell followed by a hunt for the best Philadelphia Cheese-steak. When we got to Jim's Steaks, the line went round the corner! We waited a good half-hour before getting to order, and the wait was well worth it!

In all, we spent about US$200 per person for the car, hotel, and food.

Next weekend: Boston!

I finished work early so decided to take a walk with the camera and try out the soft-grad filters at the nearby cemetery.

A shell of a car permanently parked opposite the Trans-centre at White Plains. Store-room? Junkyard? Simply unwanted.

Bimal organised a dinner party at X2O by the Hudson River in Yonkers which was having a Restaurant Week special where you get3 courses for $26. Again, he was nice enough to give us a lift there, and we had a drinks by the bar while waiting for the others to arrive. The company was fun with lots of interesting stories to share, and the food was great too! You could almost taste the food in the pictures...

First time snowboarding at Hunter Mountain with IBMers as part of the new-hire group. Again, I had lots of fun only because the people we met in NY are so friendly and hospitable who go out of their way to help us out. Ching-hua picked us up from work, fed us, and gave us a place to sleep before driving us 2 hours to Hunter to ski/snowboard before driving us home again. Oh, did I mention she also practically loaned me everything I was wearing?

It was great fun meeting other IBMers and also learning how to snowboard. I'd really like to go try again!

First time shooting people with my new set-up, and I really like how the contrast and saturation of the lens really comes true. Minimal PS and correction needed. Only gripe is that the 24-105 vignettes quite significantly wide open and with the hood on. It does add a certain mood to some shots, but nothing I can't fix in PP.

We were supposed to go for a dinner party at Marc and Theresa's house in the city, so we took the chance to visit the Museum in the afternoon.

The museum was very interesting. So interesting that I fell asleep for 15 minutes and decided to take a walk outside in Central Park instead.

It was definitely a wise choice and the park was still pretty crowded with lots of joggers and cyclists, and kids with the sleds rocketing down the slopes.

It's also the first outing with the 5D and 24-105L, and I'm loving it! Slight vignetting at 24/4, so perhaps I should try to avoid that... Somehow a nagging feeling tells me I should have gotten the 24-70 instead. sigh.

We hit the Big Apple together with Bimal, a very friendly IBMer from HR. He took us around Lower Manhattan, where we checked out the Brooklyn Bridge, Fulton Market, Pier 17, Wall Street, Little Italy, and Chinatown.

Dinner was at Nonya's, an authentic Malaysian restaurant run by Malaysians from Pulau Pinang. We met Bimal's friend and her husband Steven, who insisted on picking up the bill.

Bimal then drove us home (thanks!), and we were knocked out after spending 12 hours in the City. It's definitely different from White Plains!

We went to the Land of Gods in search of the Oceanic Sunfish also known as the Mola-mola. Based at Sanur, we went for 2 days of diving at Tulamben and stayed at the Palm Beach Paradise Hotel. The rooms were comfortable and well-furnished, and the diving was great as well.

As some of the other people didn't have enough leave, they left on the 8th. We spent the next day white-water rafting (b-oring..).

Also had a great time with the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 with its wide-angles and tack-sharp quality. Colours were also noticeably more vivid and contrasty, with minimal post-processing needed. Is it time to get one?

*Also see: Underwater Shots

Fun in the sun while on the boat, plus walkaround shots during our 3 day R&R in Phuket. Taken with Canon 300D, kit lens and 50mm f1.8. Never a dull moment with OrpheusDive!

*Caution: Some nudity. Not for the faint-hearted.
*Also see: Underwater Shots, Simon Cabaret Show