Ahhh....it's been a while since I last updated my blog so I guess it's time to do some writing?
So, what have I been up to these last couple of months?
First, let's start off with my bday! :)
My Birthday Celebrations
At the end of June I celebrated my birthday with my family. Like all years past, it ended with a nice cake, but this year it was a little bit more special. This year it came with a nice surprise...
My dad had ordered a computer from the States for my birthday this year. It was to be my mini gaming computer at home to plug into my HDTV. It took a while for it to arrive, but eventually came.
One fine Thursday morning, I got this revamped computer end of June:
Yes, what you are looking at is a completely brand-new revamped Commodore 64, revised up-to-date for 2011 with a dual Intel Atom chip chipset! It is a fully fledged PC and yes Commodore, one of our all-time loved brands, is back!! I had ordered it since May as a Standard unit with 2GB RAM, 250GB HD and DVD drive. But what happened was….I had mine specially updated by the boss of the company! Let me explain!
What happened was, at the time of order I was on their company support forum, and through a couple of exchanges (and supporting the company, as it was only just starting up) I became good friends with a number of members there. When I was contacted that it was soon to be shipped by the company, I told them the timing was perfect because it meant it would arrive around the time of my birthday. So I thought that was the end of that…. That is, until I got an email on a Saturday morning from the boss of the firm who he said apparently he'd done something with my order. One Saturday morning I was told my machine had been upgraded from Standard spec to Ultimate spec. Do you know what that means? It meant I got over $300 worth of goodies for my unit!! My unit got upgraded to the top level spec, with 4GB RAM, 1TB drive and a Bluray drive thrown in for free!
And here is the proof to show for it:
I was really really chuffed with this unit, and so happy there are people who really care….
And if you wanna share in my excitement, you can see and watch my Youtube box opening here ^^ >
These last two months, lots of activities happened on my family side, as two of my cousins from my family managed to finally get married. I couldn't attend either one of them, but I was happy for them all, as it had been a while since anyone in our family had such celebrations. One of my oldest cousins (3 years younger than me) got married, as did one of my younger cousins (9 years younger than me). Chinese tradition says as the oldest grandchild I should technically get married first before anyone, but that to me is only just a mindset. Though I'm not married yet I firmly believe in freedom of choice, affinity and one's fate. I believe such things will eventually come to those when the timing is right. :)
New Printer Installed
Two weeks ago we had a brand-new 60" printer installed in our studio. Using latex ink it is supposed to help create more durable pieces of art in our work.
We'd thought of getting the unit as it would help expand our service offerings, and allow us to print onto various substrate materials including cloth, vinyl, wallpapers and such. You could even create curtains with it! It's :) amazing….
Air Con Getting Fixed
Last Tuesday our aircon unit at work broke down so we had to call in the repair people. But what we didn't realise was the amount of work needed to get it repaired! Because the heat exchanger was installed poorly outside our studio, it had to be moved further out so the repairmen could do their job. So some scaffolders had to come in to add the bamboo scaffolding around the exchanger. But one thing…..we found they were working rather dangerously! In adding the screws in place for the bamboo and standing on a very short ledge outside the window 6 storeys high, they didn't wear or use a harness!! They said it was too hot to do so! My dad saw the people work and thought it was just scary!
Surprising Call From Old Family Friend
Last Wednesday, my dad and I got an anonymous call from an old family friend who we hadn't seen in years....and I'm talking like almost 15 years since we last met. Out of the blue we got a call at work from this friend, so it was a pleasant surprise.
I was told by him that, apparently he'd found us thru out of all places, but at AnD! Apparently he'd gone through my entire blog on here, and read up about my life up until this point. He'd gone to try find information about where my dad worked, and had read through most of my blog until he found the details. Luckily he called us…. so we're going to have a reunion soon. All thanks to the power of the web! :)
Some Friends Come, And Some Go...
Also earlier this month I learnt the sad truth about one other friend who died in London. He was a former darkroom printer client of my dads and also a family friend who we'd known for years. We learnt he'd died of a heart attack one Friday afternoon this early August.
It's sad these things like this happen in life. All one can do I suppose is do their best…
London Riots
Which brings me to the UK riots. Don't know if you heard, but it seems this August has been pretty hectic UK-wise. Lots of people lost their homes and possessions while others suffered loss of business because of the riots. On top of this London had to face a growing recession and
With the riots my relatives living in London was not affected at all, and some even contributed to the peace (a cousin of mine worked helped work as a reserve policewoman) but nonetheless the event had quite an impact on the local community because of the fear and unrest it caused. My old residential area got torched. :( And at one point the rioters were going to almost try to cause havoc near one area where my grandma lived, but luckily nearby her town there were some Charles Bronsons who were out in force! I learnt up to 300 angry Kurdish and Turkish folks were out in force on the streets to protect their (and others) property because the police was stretched thin. The police said they didn't recommend the 'vigilante' groups being formed, nonetheless if it wasn't for these brave souls things would have gotten worse in London. Thank god there are still some nice people left in our world….
Like these guys. The one thing you'll find with the British is that no matter what, they'll always make light heart of a situation no matter how bad it looks. So here are also some really funny photos I found of the events you guys might enjoy! ^^
Building Star Wars Lego
Lately I've been shopping with my bro for some Star Wars Lego sets. I've always been a fan of Lego but also of Star Wars and it's been a while since I built anything out of Lego. So what better way than to treat myself to some nice designs? Here are photos of at least two I've built:
Last Of All….Mooncakes!
As you know end of August is Mooncake Festival season in HK. And what better way to celebrate the festival than to enjoy some nice moon cakes. Except the ones I'm about to show you are not quite the same! ^^
Joanne: Yes, the Cameron one is my fave, totally depicts the whole situation! :P
Patrick: Yes it is! Commodore is truly back! The C64 I have is a fully fledged Intel PC with 1TB drive and Bluray that has built-in emulation of the C64 with Linux (mainly free software). The one I have is the C64x Ultimate. The other version is called the Extreme and has an Intel Core i7 chipset with 3TB drive and Bluray. There is Wifi built into all the machines, so they are ready to go. As with all PCs you can have Windows 7 installed on it too if you want. I've done that on my machine. :)
And great thing is......Amiga is coming back too! Later this year in fact! Check out www.commodoreusa.net for more info. :)
lol I love this one. There is nothing like the british spirit really is there. I was all for the Turkish vigilantes, good on them for standing up. It was so sad to see the three who lost their lives trying to protect family and property. I know there is a lot saying that there is too much harsh sentences being given out to some of those who were in the riot but I think they well and truly deserve it. They weren't hurting the government or standing up for a believe, they were out to cause mayhem and worsen lives of many of the public.
Born and raised in England for most of my life, I came to live in Hong Kong with my HK-native family in 2006 to expand our family business, and start a new life in Asia. My background is in digital imaging from both material and creative aspects, and our family has been in the commercial creative printing business for well over 25 years. Our expertise in the field is so compelling that in 2006 with a European paper company we helped develop and launch our own groundbreaking photo inkjet paper called 'Da Vinci' which won the hearts of many artists over there. Apart from working with well-known people like the singer Robbie Williams, comedian Spike Milligan and even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, my family has also worked in conjunction with firms like Epson and HP in London to promote the technology of environmentally friendly inkjet printing. AnD artist, printer and photographer Danny Chau is my father, and I welcome anyone who dares to become my friend!
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