Syonan Jinja

This weekend, I followed a group of friends exploring deep into Mac Ritchie jungle looking for Syonan Jinja, the World War II Japanese Shrine, or what's left of it.

We started our journey here:
It takes about 2 hours to reach the site; another 2 hours out. In the dense jungle, snap this photo. Doesn't it remind us of Jurrassic Park movie?


And we also come across a bamboo grove - actually a bamboo shrub. Note the left side of the photo, a parang ( a more classy name - machete) . That's useful in clearing some of the overgrowths.

The following paragraph is taken from National Library Board:

The Syonan Shinto Shrine (Syonan Jinja)

The Syonan (Shonan) Shinto Shrine or Syonan Jinja, was built by British prisoners-of-war and the Japanese Army off Adam Road inside the MacRitchie Reservoir area. It was officially unveiled on 10 September 1942. However, the Shrine was demolished immediately after the Japanese surrender with the return of the British forces in 1945. Only remnants of a font and foundation remain. In September 2002, the National Heritage Board marked the shrine's location as a historic site.

For more details, go to:
http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_236_2004-12-24. html

http://sg.pagenation.com/sin/Singapore%20WW2%20Shinto%20Shrine%20-%20Syonan%20Jinja_103.8123_1.3483.map

Some scene at the site:

On the way back. A Mac Ritchie Reservoir from another perspective.

Yacht Trip to Pulau Hantu

I cousin rented a yacht. We choose the itinerary - Pulau Hantu. The trip started off at Republic Yacht Club, I think; it's the one at West Coast.



Scenes from Pulau Hantu- a very nice small serene island, away from the bustling city life.

The trip also include Banana Boat ride.

On the way back, see people sailing. I have not sailed for a long long time. Miss those days Uni days when I was taking up courses ( sailing, kayaking ...) on weekends. Something to look forward to on weekends. The anticipation! The Energy!



This is Poly Marina - the practical test venue for Powered Leisure Craft license .

HDTV dummy guide

Numbers when shopping for a (High Definition TV) HDTV can be quite intimidating, especially when there are eager salesman trying to persuade you to buy their products. Sometimes there are sales person, who are super eager, but when questioned further, you realized they are just one of those read-from-the-pamphlet salesman. Most of them follow one rule in sales:

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

(if you are a salesman, and are reading this, I'm sorry. Don't take it personally)

It's time to show them who's the boss! - I mean customer. ( when we are suppose to be always right, right?)

HDTV Glossary

720: 1280 x 720 pixel (pass the criteria for HD)
1080: 1920 x 1080 pixel ( full HD)

usually there are 'i' or 'p' after the number. If not, ask the sales.

i: interlaced:Interlaced scan redraws every second line (a field) in one refresh and the remaining lines in a second refresh. Interlaced scan increases picture resolution while saving bandwidth but at the expense of some flicker or other artifacts.
p: progressive : Progressive scan redraws all the lines (a frame) of a picture in each refresh

Therefore:
fps: frames per second
Hz: Hertz: 50 Hz or 25fps(PAL), 60 Hz or ~30fps (NTSC)


For example
24p means 24 progressive scan frames per second and
50i means 25 interlaced frames per second, consisting of 50 interlaced fields per second.

Plasma - ( well, it's kind of ionized gas, when molecules and atoms get heated up to ..... z Z , let's not get too technical here)

LCD: Liquid Crystal Display

The debate for plasma vs LCD can be quite a challenge I will just quote from CNet

If you're in the market for a big screen television -- and we're talking 50-inches and above -- then we'd suggest plasma as a safe bet. Plasmas give you more bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better resolution, plasma still has the edge in terms of picture quality.

One other thing to look for, whether you opt for plasma or LCD, is an integrated tuner -- many TVs still have analogue tuners, which look pretty terrible on a large screen. Try to get a model with an inbuilt HD tuner if you can.

At the smaller end of things (15" to 42" TVs), LCD is the only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. And the best thing is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time.

Here is a good guide from Panasonic website:

Click for bigger image

HD can broadcast in surround sound- Dolby Digital or DTS. For more information for surround sound, here is a good wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround_sound

Actually, if you notice most of the TV sales person are quite quiet and less aggressive (compare to those credit card promoters). Probably, they are just as bewildered as most of us. It's nobody's fault - it's a fast changing world.

A Quick Guide To Aspect Ratios

These days technology keeps emerging and it's difficult to catch up. When we are buying TV sets and print photos ... , we can get bewildered by some many numbers in aspects ratios. So here is a quick guide.

4:3 is the ratio for most older TV sets and computer screen

16:9 is the HDTV and the widescreen computer screen

But if you are send your photos for printing. 4R is usually the standard - the aspect ratio is 3:2 , more commonly seen as 6 x 4 (in cm)

Movie Theatre displays are slightly different. Below is a quick guide:


The Golden Ratio by the way is :

Tuas, Raffles Marina, wakeboard

It has been 2 weeks since school reopens and work just starts picking up its engine.

Take a break, sort of ( was marking some scripts before leaving the house), for a wakeboard session.

This time I remember bringing my camera phone to the boat. Took a snap shot of the mini 'lighthouse' on the way back.


Snap this as well: Singapore Police Coast Guard on duty. You can see the Tuas 2nd Link at the background.