Not sure how many of you noticed it, but the latest photo albums that were uploaded were taken with Jas' new toy, the Casio Exlim S500. If you'd clicked on the Details at each photo, you'd have seen the EXIF information.

According to the flyers, it is going around for around 750 bucks, with free gifts of a leather case, and a 256MB SD card. I managed to find it selling for 610 somewhere in Funan, with the same free gifts as well. If you are interested to get it, buzz me and I'll direct you to the correct shop.

My first impression was that its 2.2 inch LCD screen is much much better than the 1.5 inch of our old Exlim S1. The difference is less than an inch mathematically, but psychologically, it appears much bigger. Of course, a bigger LCD consumes much more battery life, but I'd got enough of squinting at the small LCD to see if I'd taken a good shot. In addition, the LCD comes with the smooth and glossy finishing that is common with plasma TVs, so everything seems brighter and in better contrast. On the other hand, it's easier to leave fingerprint marks on the LCD as well, but it's nothing a good screen protector can't solve.

Another reason why I chose this camera is that it allows recording of videos and is only limited by the free capacity on the SD card; some cameras don't allow you to record movies beyond a certain file size. In addition, this camera supports full VGA videos. No more of those lousy 320 X 200 movies. This is 640 X 480 we're talking about. I don't think there are similar cameras out there that allows free recording of VGA movies at the moment. Neat!

Lastly, I like the form factor. Both Jas and I are not photography fanatics; we're more point and shoot people. So we want something that is light, sleek, and hopefully, looks sexy as well. Well, there are better looking cameras out there, but I guess this is the optimal solution for us, in terms of budget, features, and form factor, and it looks pretty good actually.

After a few days of heavy usage, I'm getting more and more impressed with this gadget. The Super Life sticker doesn't lie. We took about a hundred photos over a few days, and the battery level was still at 75%. Mind you, we took it out regularly to look at previously taken photos as well.

Everything was pretty quick, from start up time to shutter speed and writing to disk. Moreover, it was easy to use. There were few required settings, and the most accessible functions were easily available via strategically placed buttons. For lazy and casual photographers like us, it was ideal.

I like this camera, because it is a wonderful piece of product engineering. Jas likes it, because the model we got was white in colour. So there you go, to each his/her own. Heh.

I had accumulated some points with my credit card, and so we decided to redeem the points for a 1 night stay at Merchant Court Hotel to celebrate our birthdays. We had wanted to do that this coming week, but I'm going off on a business trip, so we reserved the place one week earlier. It's quite near to our old office, where we met for the first time, so there's something about that place.

Anyway, official check in was at 2, but we were already there at 12 to try our luck at getting our room early. No such luck though, so took the complimentary shuttle bus provided by the hotel to Suntect to do some shopping. As the shuttle bus makes its rounds every hour, we were a little pressed for time, but we stayed focused, and got what we wanted.

We returned to the hotel at 2+, and we were soon checked in to our room on the 9th floor. We had quite a nice view overlooking the swimming pool and Clarke Quay. Of course, personally, the view came second to me, behind whether they have ESPN on the tele. EPL was starting that evening, and I'd waited 3 long months for the new season. Luckily, they do have ESPN, so all was well.

We tried out the swimming pool, and it was bigger than we expected. Most swimming pools in hotels are just ponds of water, and you can barely swim a few strokes before you reach the other end of the pool. This one was pretty big, and well designed, with the baby pool at the lower side, as well as a jacuzzi to the side. There were quite a number of tourists around, and the children took to the slides with much delight. You can hear the peals of laughter everywhere.

We didn't really take lunch, so we didn't stay that long at the pool. Besides, William and Wendy were joining us to watch the EPL together in the evening, so we went out for an early dinner. And to place some bets. Heh.

It was a pretty lazy and relaxing weekend for us, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Photos are ready and available over at the Photos section.

We had a nice gathering on Friday night to have an early celebration of Jas' birthday, and we went back to Traders Hotel for their buffet, since Jas liked it so much.

There were 9 of us, and everybody had a good time. We started at 7+, 8 and before you know it, it was last orders at 10. We stayed on a little longer to chat over coffee, and then it was home sweet home.

Thanks to everybody who had come, and thanks for the presents too!

Head over to the Photos section to take a look.

Finally, after 3 months of off season, EPL is back!!! Not to mention the Champions League, the Spanish La Liga, the Italian Serie A....

Let the games begin!!! Woot!!!

Yesterday was National Day, the first public holiday for a while. And it was over in a flash, before you know it.

I was involved in one of the NDP parades when I was serving NS, so I'm not very big on catching it on television. It's the few thousand strong choir, the marching contingents, and the mass displays, topped by some fancy fireworks every year.

I'm sure the people putting up the mass displays have been making a lot of effort, and sacrificed a lot of their free time to rehearse for the event. But there reaches a point when you get the feeling that you've seen it once, you've seen them all, if you get what I mean.

Good news elsewhere. Jas' mother has recovered sufficiently to be discharged from the hospital, so she'll most likely be returning home today. Actually, she has been in pretty good spirits for the past few days; she's only in the hospital to undergo the drip on antibiotics, so that the toxic in her blood can be removed. On the other hand, she really needs to watch her diet in the future, so this is something she has to take note of.

So, how was your weekend/holiday?