leeds to reality...

If memory serves, it was in 2003 when I came across a list of the 10 best European castles in the Discovery Channel website. And topping the list is Leeds Castle in Kent, South East of England. Having such a fascination of royal residences, I have been talking about going to this castle since.

I made it there last May, during my holiday in the UK. According to the Discovery website, the English call it the loveliest castle in the world. Maybe other citizens of the world may beg to differ but if it is the loveliest, I can’t be the judge of that. I have not visited that many castles in my life. The castle itself is not huge as I expected it to be but it has wide-open spaces, which I love the most when visiting these royal residences. It makes me feel like a princess strolling around in it. Hhmm..

Leeds Castle has entered my list of favourite royal residences visited after Schonbrunn Palace in Austria and Chateau de Versailles in France. There are other palaces, castles and chateaus, which I have visited, but none of them has left a lasting impression on me than the 3, which I have mentioned above.

To see more of Leeds Castle, click here to see my photo page from my visit to the UK in May.

at last...

It has been a while (a VERY LONG while in fact) but I finally got around to sort out my holiday photos i.e. edit, resize and upload to the server. To view them, click on the following links:

England - May 2005

Paris - May 2005

The links can also be found at the sidebar of this blog.

Enjoy!

vegas to miami to new york...

Since 2001, I have been a huge fan of CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) - an American forensic drama that became very popular the angle that it has focused on how a crime is solved. Forget about theories, let the evidence do the talking. I was totally hooked since I first saw the first episode. It left me hungry for more. Each time I watch an episode, I become immerse into it, wanting to solve the crime based on the evidence collected before the episodes end. And I have to wait for a week before I can 'work' on my next 'crime'.

However, after Vegas, came CSI Miami. The crimes to be solved became more intrigue.

Before long, New York came .. CSI New York.

Forensic galore!!!

And the best part is, the cable channel was airing all three at the same time with Sunday night being the CSI marathon where the episode from each cities would be aired back to back. How cool is that? If I missed all the episode during the week, I have a 3-hour fest of trying to solve crimes.

However, tomorrow, it will be the season finale for CSI Vegas - 2 hour season finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino. It should be Kill-Bill like. This season of CSI Vegas has impressed me. My eyes are glued to the tele each time. It just gets better and better each season and with this season finale directed by Mr Tarantino, it should be interesting because it seems like the plot is something which the writers have never taught of.

CSI Miami is just as good but we will have to see the new season which will begin next week. Sad thing is one of my favourite CSI from Miami will no longer be in the new season. Such a shame! I thought he is rather cute - a cute geeky guy... what more can a geeky woman ask for. ;-)

CSI New York is rather textbook. Well, perhaps with all the other CSI episodes I have been watching, I have somewhat gained some insights into the world of forensics.

If only I could turn back time and go into the path of forensics. I could be one of those crime scene investigators, processing crime scene and evidence. Oh well, the key words here are 'if' and 'only'. I guess, I will have to settle for solving crimes in my head while watching CSI on the tele.

caramel crazy..

I don't have a sweet tooth. It drives me crazy just eating food with too much sugar. However, this past week, I've had the caramel cravings. The following was what I had in the last week:

Sunday, 17 July - Almond Caramel Ice Cream
Tuesday, 19 July - Almond Caramel Pretzel
Wednesday, 20 July - Ice Blended Banana and Caramel from Coffee Bean
Thursday, 21 July - Caramel Latte
Saturday, 23 July - Another Caramel Ice Cream

Crazy or what?

out with the old...

in with the new....

My old tele has been acting up for over a week now. First, there was no red. Then, there was no yellow. Over the weekend, it came down to just black and white. I was toying with the idea of waiting for pay day to get a new tele but the thought of the tele breaking down during the week where there are a few good programmes that I want to watch, was just unbearable.

So, I caved in and forked out a few hundred dollars to get myself a spanking new tele to replace the old boy, who has serviced me since 1995. My new tele is a Toshiba 20 inch LCD flat screen.

This new toy should be the highlight of my week.... but no. Man, I was having issues, technical issues. If you are not keen on technical stuff, skip the next 3 paragraphs.

TECHNICAL ISSUES
I plugged special cables, which I paid $75 for, from the DVD player to component connection on the tele. I understand that it would give superb quality picture. However, the moment I plugged in the last of the three component cables, the picture on my cable channel would disappear. But no indication that the DVD player is actually connected. After a few tries, I gave up and revert to the regular video-out connection with regular video/audio cables.

So now the DVD works but my DVD remote is conflicting with the tele sensor. When I press buttons on the DVD remote, the tele would switch functions like as if I have pressed the tele's remote and vice versa. I switched of the DVD player but the sensor issue is still not resolved but worse happened...

Now, most of the functions on the tele's remote is not working except for the power on/off button and a few other buttons which I don't need to use. The menu function is totally out now and thus, I cannot adjust the brightness, colour, contrast of the picture on my tele.

I gave up fixing it. I may bring the remote back to the shop to test it with the same tele on display to see if it works. When I regained my sanity, I will sit down and figure it out again. In the meantime, you experts with the video components/remote control functions, do provide me with some pointers.

Apart from all the issues, I like the look for my spanking new state-of-the-art tele. However, the services of my old tele and VCR are not forgotten.

Long Service Award goes to:

NEC Color Television - providing good video image services since 1995 (left)

Mitsubishi Video Cassette (what is that?) Recorder - providing recording & playback services since 1990. (right)

Your years of good service are greatly appreciated!

crack the code.. part II

This was taken during my recent trip to Paris. It was taken on my first evening in Paris, as I walked through Jardin de Tuileries, I spotted this statue. I think there is a reason why the statue is covering his face. He is embarassed and I think I know why. Do you? ;-) Figure it out and let me know.

Photo taken on Monday, 23 May 2005

crack the code..

I had to do it, what with all the hype about it. So last night, I finally finished reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The contents were intriguing and I just could not put it down after I started reading it. Chapter after chapter, I just want to go on reading and reading. Chapter after chapter, Dan Brown continued to keep you guessing. Chapter after chapter, I was dying to find out what was going to happen next. Now that I have finished it, I am dying to discuss it.

And the things that Dan Brown mentioned in this book were thought provoking.

I want to see the painting of Mona Lisa.
I want to look at the Last Supper and observe the apostles besides Jesus.
I want to wander around the Louvre again.
I want to go to WestMinster Abbey and see Issac Newton’s grave.
I want to go to Rosslyn Chapel in Edinburgh.

His writing is excellent. Narrative. It makes you want to read his other books. However, I am reluctant to do that. Why? This brings me back to when I first read John Grisham. The Firm was probably one of the best books I have ever read. After that, I went on to read his other books and then, the plot stop to thickens. Subsequent books began to tell a similar story like his previous books. I don’t want to go down that road… unless you out there beg to differ and convince me otherwise.

My thoughts are still provoked at this point, from reading Da Vinci’s Code.

she's leaving home...

Wednesday morning at 4 o'clock as the day begins in Singapore, As most of us were still in dreamland, Liza, one of my closest friends, and her son, Adam began their long journey to a new beginning. A new beginning in the United States.

It was not easy letting her go but she is an adult and you can't tell your friends to run their lives. Tears rolled down our eyes when we had our last dinner together on Monday night, Despite trying hard not to let that happen. Sending her to the airport was not an option ... flood of tears would be too hard to handle.

No more spontaneous nights out on weeknights when one of us has had a stressful day. No more talk over coffee on the weekends. My world has changed. Nothing's the same now. First was Sal - left for Dubai with her family - work reasons
Now, Liza..... the close friends I have are numbered.

C'est la vie but this is not good bye... this is au revoir!

is this world a better place now?

As I am writing this, LIVE 8 concert has just started, marking the 20th anniversary of when the first LIVE 8 concert was held in 1985. Twenty years and things have not changed much in making this world a better place to live in for every single human being. You think you had it bad because you lost your job? Think again. A woman in Africa struggling to feed her children. Children who were born with Aids. People who lived in countries who could not even afford to feed themselves, let alone vaccination to fight against diseases. You don't have it bad compared to these people.

Funds will raised during this concert and from other fund raising events. But how much of those funds will actually reach to those individuals in those developing countries. World leaders from developed countries need to put an end to wars and help those countries who needs any form of help they can get and work into ending corruption in poverty stricken nations.

You can do your part :
Go to Live8 site and sign your name.
Go to site to see what you can do to help.

Make this world a better place. Your small contribution is a big help to those who needs it.

Happy Birthday, Nadiah!