Kokochi

Beach Bomb-fire!

With good friends on a Friday...Celebrating and hanging out...

新しい仲間

新しい仲間 = atarashii nakama = a new member of my

circle (the Japanese words match what I mean more accurately)

I bought my first camera phone in October 2002. It was an AU cell phone. I had

never been picky before, but with Dav's encouragement, I bought the fanciest

phone that had a camera, video, email, and GPS. And it was in a gentle pink

color and I could type in English and in Japanese. Mind you, this is back in

2002, which is eons ago in mobile phone history. So my phone was the meanest

phone around, as Dav once described.

Her name was Miss Pink and I loved her. I loved the way I could put a picture of

Dav on the cover panel, they way she yelped, "you got mail" in English whenever

Dav sent me emails, the way it folded so nicely with a satisfying click and was

a pleasure to hold in my hand. Her keypad was perfect for my fingers and I could

type without looking. But when I moved to San Francisco, I had to put her

lovingly to rest.

Then I got Nokia's 3650 in September 2003 because it was the only phone that had

video capability, a must for me. Plus it had bluetooth which was mighty cool

indeed. However, it was bulky and the round keypad was a pain. It didn't fit

well in my hand, and after being so spoiled by Miss Pink, it was quite an

adjustment. We made peace, however, and I continued moblogging. Later,

David

and Anil introduced me to

Panda Love

and I began liking my phone more. But if my first phone was a sweet

delicate princess, this phone was an overweight panda chomping on bamboo as it

sat upright with its belly hanging out. It would say, "what? you complaining

that I'm slow? I do what you want me to, right? I'll get to it...I'm just busy

now so leave me alone." And keeping its battery juiced up was an art. Well,

Panda Love is going on permanent vacation to chomp on all the bamboo he wants.

Because Silvetta just arrived. She's sleek, silver, and from Singapore (or at

least that's where Nokia kindly gave me the phone after my presentation). She's

a Nokia 7610 and is good with pictures. She knows it too. I've made her screen

background a swirly pink and she has a hook where I can attach a decoration - a

minor thing for sure, but I miss being able to personalize my phone in this way.

Strangely though, now that I'm on my third phone, I feel the need to say I do

like both my old phones and I'll never forget the fun they gave me. Thank you

Miss Pink and Panda! Now let's see what Silvetta will do...

done!

Finished my presentation! Now I can relax a bit. Here's my faithful laptop all ready to go beforehand, and of course I couldn't resist blogging the audience. For members of the audience who are stopping by Kokochi, thank you and I hope you enjoyed the presentation. If you'd like to try blogging, and would like something easy to use, check out TypePad, one of my company's products which we host and allows you to get started within minutes.

And ze party...

	Quicktime 6.5 Movie (.3gp) Download free player.

Was yummy! I spent a good half hour poking around the various buffet tables. I wish I remembered the details of what there was, but it was good. The most interesting was some parsley, basil, brown suger and ginger concoction served in a test tube. I drank it mainly cuz I wanted to drink out of that thing.

There were also various 'beings' walking around, magicians to make us want to twist our brains, white statuettes who didn't move all night long, and a contortionist in a mirror suit. Great for blogging for sure!

I also did my share of yapping about how blogging was cool. I'm still amazed when I meet people who don't know about blogs. Once they tell me that, then I open my eyes wide and say, "well, let me tell you what it is..." until they run away cuz I won't stop talking. Ha :)

Opening of the party

Quicktime 6.5 Movie (.3gp) Download free player.	Quicktime 6.5 Movie (.3gp) Download free player.

After the first day of the conference, there was a dinner party at Singapore's famous Command House, built in the 1930s and owned by the British Far East Army until 1971 (!!). When the bus I was in drove up the hill towards it, I couldn't help but notice the powerful colonialist aura it gave. Magestic but historical indeed. (Note to self: learn more about Singapore's history.)

I was alone so I had some time to amuse myself with with my shadow on the grand entrance.

But what perked my interest most (so much that I ducked out of a conversation to get photos) were these, ah, creatures. Yeah, they were suffering stilt performers who must have been sweating barrels while in those 'suits' having to bend down until their performance, but they were very cool.

The 5th photo is my favorite - showing staff peering at the podium because when they tried adjusting the microphone, sparks flew...then a fire sprung. It was OK in the end, but one of the staff turned out to be a magician who blew my mind away later as he made coins appear in my very own hand, so who knows. Maybe it was his trick!

Lion Expressionism

Remember those wacky colored designer cows London placed around the city a few years ago? Well, not to be outdone, Singapore has let the lions come out in all their fancy outfits! (At the fancy Raffles Hotel no less.)

I *love* these guys! Can you tell?

The one and only Raffles Hotel

Just a few pics, but this is the most beautiful hotel ever. Absolutely amazing.

Singapore noodles and sling

I met up with Woon who invited me to the conference and she took me out to a local noodle shop nearby. Yummy, but with spicy hot noodles and the heat, I was not a pretty sight. Then we went to Raffles Hotel to have the famous original Singapore Sling. Yum yum yum!

a snippet from the conference

There are a lot of people and a lot of gadgets here. I got one of my phone pics printed for me (using bluetooth) and saw a mob of people trying to take pics of something being presented (I couldn't even see).

View from my room

It sure is hot, but tropically beautiful. Walked around a bit yesterday and visited Litte India, Arab Street, a mosque, and a flea market. Went to the famous zoo at night time for a "safari" ride. It was too dark to take pictures, but I got to see my favorite elephants, rhinos (which are just out of this world), grunting hippos, bearded pigs (yes! I didn't know they existed), and sleeping tigers up close. I was jet-lagged so walking around was hard, but definitely worth it!