We are back!

Ni Hao everyone! We are back from Shanghai!

Sneak preview:-

Taken by Sony NEX 5T - panaroma mode





上海外滩 -- 两岸相望 Shanghai The Bund

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It's today!! We are flying to Shanghai today!! Praying hard it would be a peace and enjoyable trip.

Ready to travel checklist 3: A pair of comfy shoes

I'm bringing my newly bought Fred Perry sneakers to Shanghai^^ Bought it few months back but keep until today only take it out to wear XD

Actually travellers are not encourage to wear new shoes when travelling. Anyway this is my 2nd pair of Fred Perry sneakers, similar design and cutting but of course different color, I've been wearing the old one to many other places, be it local or overseas, I find it very comfortable and it's very light weight, so I somehow have confidence in Fred Perry sneakers :)



Fred Perry sneakers in my favourite color <3

Good Bye peeps! See you next week *wink*

Picture Effect @ Sony NEX 5T

Testing...testing...testing my camera at KLCC park, I'm a very hardworking self-study student, lol~ Just wanna get myself a little bit more familiar with my camera and trying to see what are the differences of each effect.

Go to 'Brightness/ Color', select 'Picture Effect'.

Picture Effect Off

 Mini Auto

 Rich BW

 Pntg MID

 Soft MID

HC BW

 SftH key

 Rtro

 Pos

 Pop

Toy Norm

Sony Digital Lifestyle Workshop

Theme: De-Focus or Bokeh effect

Venue: Sony Store, The Curve

Date: 6 Oct 2013

Time: 1pm- 3pm

What we understand from the workshop is Bokeh comes from the Japanese word BOKE, it means blurry, or just like what the theme tells, defocus. You may use this effect when you want to take a portrait of someone with blurred background. The effect is stronger if you have zoom lense compare to our Sony NEX 5T kit lense.

We are not professional and we are just sharing what we learnt from the workshop ya :)

Tips from the trainer:

3 things you should pay attention on your camera setting:

a. Aperture -- for NEX 5T, the range is 3.5-5.6. We noticed that the lowest we can go in indoor shooting is 3.5; for outdoor shooting would be 5.6

b. Shutter Speed -- Mr. Trainer advised us to adjust it higher to prevent getting shaky effect on the picture

c. ISO - the higher it is the higher exposure you get

Model is hired to let us have a try on taking good Bokeh effect portrait, at both indoor and outdoor.

I used to be a model few years back, never thought that I would stand at a photographer position today^^ 

Mr. Trainer advised us to stand closer to Ms. Model and zoom in as much as possible to get a better Bokeh effect picture. Too bad our kit lense only support 16 - 50mm, it doesn't really allow us to get such effect, hardly can see the blur effect at the back :(

Anyway, let us share some pictures :)

 Yvonne in the workshop :)

My Sony NEX 5T

Continue from previous topic - ready to travel

Checklist 2: Camera

Finally decided to own a new camera after so many years. Bought myself a Sony NEX 5T and package included:

1. 8GB memory card
2. Carrying Bag
3. NEX Workshop
4. Rechargeable Battery
5. Power Bank
6. Sony Extended Warranty 2 years + 3 months



3 colors available: black, gray & white. I just love it in white <3

Catherine and I attended 2 workshops at The Curve a week ago, we learnt about 'BOKEH' effect and 'Photo Composition' within the 4 hours class. It's worth attending if you are newbie (never play a semi-pro/ DSLR before) like us, we will share more about it in the next post ya :)

See my cutie Lotso is happily carrying it all around ^^

Carrying bag with detachable mini carrying bag inside

Manicure at Chic Nail Spa by Soong Ai Ling Bangsar Village 2

We are flying to Shanghai for the very first time in next week! Thanks to Air Asia promotion, we bought it about a year ago and finally it's time to fly! 

Let's do some preparations before flying ^^

Checklist 1: Manicure - Yvonne/ Pedicure - Catherine

I normally don't go for nail spa, except for some special occasions like my birthday or travel (for the sake of nice photography =p). One main reason I don't really do manicure is because of I always have to handwash my clothes and that's why I find it very waste $$$ if my nail color just peeled off/ scratched that way in few hours time. 

But it's a different story for Catherine. She likes pedicure a lot and she get her nails colored nicely very often, be it go for nail spa or DIY at home.

It's my second visit to Chic Nail Spa @ Bangsar Village 2, Nth visit for Catherine XD. We love the interior design of the shop so much! Some might have thought it's another Old England style of cafe in town from the outside, when you walk nearer to the shop and see the 8 armchairs are placed in 2 rows sticking to the wall, there you will realise it's a nail spa place :)

We checked with the manicurist, photos of the interior design are not allowed, but it's alright if you are taking selca picture, so just make sure you yourself are appeared in the picture itself! lol~

Me sitting there for 2 hours manicure @.@ oh my old poor backbone! 

2 different manicurists ( I guess one is junior another one is senior?) switch in between for my manicure, one did the followings:-

• Nail shaping
• Cuticle detailing
• Callus removal
• Massage with moisturising lotion ( various scents available and I picked the Red Cherry + Nutmeg)

Another one did the below:-

• Nail polish application (base coat, 2-layer colour, nail art and top coat)

It was nearly shop closing time, when the 2nd manicurist was painting art on my nails, the rest of the manicurists who already free from their duties came and stood around us and watched how the 2nd manicurist did the nail art. 看见他们这么好学又乐于分享的精神真的有一丝感动，毕竟大家一起离乡背井来到此地一起工作，守望相助是最难得的真情。

Not sure when will be my next visit but for sure I'll visit this shop again :) Here's the outcome:-

Love the outcome <3 <3 <3

Shop Name: Chic Nail Spa by Soong Ai Ling

Address: Bangsar Village 2, IF22

Tel: +603-2282 5972
Opening hours: 9.30am – 9.30pm daily

Thanks Catherine for this picture at BVII center court, love my lansi face! hahahaha~

Latte Art Workshop

你喜欢咖啡吗？

看见咖啡表面上的可爱图案，你的心情会好一点吗？

忙碌的工作总让人失去对生活的热忱，偶尔停一停学习新玩意，不但可以陶冶心灵，还可以为自己充电一下，才继续走下去执行生活上的职责。

我特喜欢拿铁，拿铁上的图案更能令我心情愉快。





3D Latter Art



某天接到姐姐的来电，说Groupon有在卖Latte Art Workshop的voucher，叫我考虑看看要不要买下来，就这样我们来到了这堂课。以下是3个小时的课程表：

Class outline

• Transformation of the perfect espresso
• Theory on the perfect cappuccino
• Milk and its magic
• Creating patterns

踏入门口扑鼻而来的正是咖啡的芳香，原来是导师正在为每一位刚抵达的学生冲泡着咖啡。我们register了以后就找个位子坐下来，导师助理体贴的问道：“latte or cappuccino?"我们都选择了今天的主角-- latte <3

平常喝咖啡也没特别去研究咖啡豆的种类与分别，导师大概介绍了几种品种与分别后就开始示范如何调配咖啡与牛奶的分量，还特别强调冲泡时用手的触感去测量标准温度的重要性。为了让大家更明确知道分量与温度不同会如何影响冲泡出来的咖啡的味道，导师示范了好几个样本让大家试喝，喝到最后舌头都麻痹了，味蕾都失灵了。

之后学生们被分配成两人一组。首先，一人把仪器填满咖啡粉，用身体的重量去压紧仪器里的咖啡粉，倒转来的时候粉不会倒出来就为之成功。接着，把仪器插入咖啡机让它与水混合冲泡出来。这时候另一人就得为前者准备好杯子，当咖啡徐徐流进杯子里的时候后者就可以开始准备牛奶以调制泡沫。先转动开关释放出机器里的空气也顺便清洗一下仪器，然后接过导师调配好的牛奶分量以后，注意把量杯斜拿着，确保机器的顶端触碰到牛奶的表面，双手握着量杯上下移动让空气打入制造泡沫。这时，导师会问你烫不烫？当你觉得量杯表面烫到你握不住超过两秒就可以停止了。标准的温度为65-75度。

接下来就是重头戏了！导师先示范怎么画叶子与爱心，并让学生选择自己要画的叶子还是爱心，然后从旁指导。画latte art看起来简单其实并不然，大家都画出了抽象图案来了！倒入牛奶泡沫的时候必须靠近杯口，然后一面倒一面摇晃量杯，结果大家都手震震牛奶泡沫都倒不好！成果当然可想而知咯，呵呵！

轮到我们啦！以下就是我们人生第一次用大型专业咖啡机冲泡咖啡并画上图案的成果，哈哈！还算是个叶子的样子吧？？>.<

课程结束前导师又为大家示范了多几个花样，熟练的手势把图案都画得太美了！

星期天上了一堂香喷喷的艺术课，感觉自己又多了一份知识，更多了一份开心。


小记：我们发现其中一位学员是东与哲的小东。他好学不耻下问的精神很令人欣赏，大概他也是个咖啡迷吧！分享一张他帅气认真的侧面照：

New Car... Excited

The last time I owned a car was about a year ago! Ever since then, been consider from car to car and eventually bought VW Polo Sedan....

At first, thought of booking a white Polo Sedan since it looks quite sporty, then change my mind to black.... but not really liking the idea of driving another black car as there are quite a number of black cars on the road everyday. When I get to know there's Shadow Blue for this model, that's it, Shadow Blue is the color.

Second day driving the car... Glad the Shadow Blue Polo Sedan looks sheek and sleek. Love it!