Graduation trips, and life thereafter.

All of us humans are similar to each other in more ways than we can ever imagine. We have our hopes, our dreams of a better life, and we experience love and emotions all the same. The only thing that differs is our circumstances.

Over the course of 2 months I've been on 3 trips to 4 countries for my graduation trip, and my graduation trips have finally come to an end.

Diving in Phuket, visiting Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields in Cambodia, pigging out in Hong Kong, visiting my distant relatives Shenzhen and finally embarking on a backpacking trip alone to Yunnan. Nothing remarkable, but traveling has always been more of a personal growth journey rather than bragging rights on a dinner table.

And so I shared a quote that says, "travel far enough, you'll meet yourself".

Did I travel far enough? I'm not sure, but I definitely discovered many things myself when I was out alone traveling than any other trips. Being alone is something we are probably quite adverse to, given the extent of interactions both online and offline in the bustling city of Singapore, we are rarely given a moment of isolation. The hardest part of being alone is the vulnerability that comes with it, at least that was the case for me. Nobody to seek attention and validation from. No familiar faces around to watch over you when you're in a foreign land. Suddenly it's just me, and myself. But when I was finally comfortable in my own skin, everything around me became more lucid because I wasn't looking inwards through others anymore. That was also the point for me when I could throw myself wholly into every new experience throughout the journey. Being starved from Facebook played a huge role in helping me disconnect from the internet, and I suddenly felt so much more alive when I was actually living my life for what it's worth instead of trying to fake a pleasurable experience for my digital persona.

China has always been such a fascinating country to me. Being a Singaporean Chinese, it's funny how we have so many things in common but yet we cannot wait to draw the line between us and the Chinese waiter serving our dinner. Living in Singapore, it is not uncommon to find many of us shrouded in xenophobia and steeped in misconceptions about others. But through my brief period of interaction with fellow backpackers from China and Taiwan, it's disturbing at how the world holds Singapore in such high regards but I cannot quite say we are deserving of their praise. Everywhere I went, I was welcomed with great hospitality whenever I revealed that I was Singaporean (I even had a taxi driver giving me a discount after discovering that I was Singaporean!). The comments always revolved around our excellent education system, our hardworking culture (highly contentious for me), our global opportunities and how our average citizen can access a high standard of living. At some point I realised that Singapore is perceived by many to be the gateway between the East and the West. Our excellent diplomatic relations with almost every other nation puts us at an extremely favourable position for all sorts of things.

Every nation has its strength and weaknesses. China has been hailed to be the next biggest superpower and the nationwide phenomenon of striking it rich in a short span of time. Reading about it through articles is nowhere near the actual experience of hearing it from the Chinese themselves. Social mobility in China is a much hairier business than us here in Singapore, and to think so many of us often take our opportunities for granted.

In China, education is a huge business. Agencies do a roaring business helping hopeful parents and children get to prestigious education institutes worldwide, Singapore included. The extent of methods employed are astounding, from having professional boutique agencies aimed at writing impressive entrance essays to having someone else take SAT on your behalf. In China, money CAN get you anywhere. It is no wonder why the colloquial description of an ideal male and female are 高富帅 and 白富美. It's all about being rich (富). Having poor parents severely limits your opportunities unless you can get a ticket out through an overseas scholarship or by being truly brilliant (while having to fight with countless other brilliant geniuses). The equivalent of our handphone selling Ah Beng in China is called 屌丝, a slang term to describe a guy mediocre in appearance and abilities and is often used in a jest or as an insult. Regrettably, many people do become 屌丝, addicted to online gaming, lost and dejected at a dead end job that pays peanuts. Whether it is truly their own fault, I don't think the reasons are ever that simple. But the feeling I got is that if you are born poor, avoiding such a fate is a lot harder for them than it is for us. It's not difficult for us to stay high up in our in our lofty skyscrapers, dismissing their circumstances as a result of their lack of talent and drive but that would be missing the point altogether.

Every step of the way, be it in China, Cambodia or otherwise, I feel immensely proud to be Singaporean. We may have our shortcomings, but when you hear of women being trapped in prostitution, or men risking their lives living a precarious life of drugs and crime to provide for their families, you realise that what we have today cannot be taken for granted. For the longest time, I always had an opinion that many of us stand by the "West is Best" attitude. Some of us adore their lifestyle and their culture, some of us despise and desert our own identity in order to embrace theirs. I hated it from the very start, not because Asian males are constantly perceived as the last of the pecking order, but because it revealed how Asians are such insecure pushovers. How can we ever be equals if we don't see ourselves as worthy individuals? There were several instances where I was insulted and discriminated against because I was a Chinese male, referred to as a cunning conman (and they automatically assumed that I did not understand English lol). I was less than impressed with some western backpackers in the group who decided that the Chinese girl would automatically want to sleep with him in a private room just because she was so enthusiastic about showing the beauty and culture of China to him along the way up the mountain. Perhaps it was through this, and some other incidents of discrimination, I now draw the line clearly whenever someone loses that respect for another human being.

I am so glad that I chose to go on this trip. Even through it was only such a short period of time, I truly had a great time and my mind has expanded along with my heart. I've been to America for 6 months, but I was only trapped in my own Singaporean/American world. Compared to many of the young traveller friends I've made from China, Singaporeans pale in comparison in terms of being open and accepting of other cultures. Maybe we are just so busying trying to pretend to be "hapz", or 作(zuo) in the equivalent Chinese slang, that we don't realise that no matter how hard we try to be someone else, we can never completely escape from who we truly are inside.

I am Singaporean, and I am Chinese. These two things are clearer to me than ever before, and wherever my path may lead me to be in the future after school, I know these are the two things that I would never want to lose.

Lessons I wish I knew before I started University.

It's the last day of school, 4 years of school did fly by faster than I would like it to. It is really a mixed bag of feelings when I know that I will be shedding my identity as a student, an identity we have all grown tremendously under and on many occasions, sheltered us when we were fragile.

The end of school life does different things to different people. Some rejoice its end, choosing to view it as a burden of sorts while some are apprehensive, unsure about how it will be like in just a few months to come. I choose to savour the last bits of school, choose to remember all the lessons I have learnt and be grateful to all the people who made me who I am today. I can't turn back time, and with the benefit of hindsight, here's some lessons I wish I knew before I started University.

I know it's not always easy to agree with everything I say, but it's just opinions that even I myself may change in time to come.

8 things I wish I knew before I started University

1. What you consume will shape you more than you want it to.
The world has evolved tremendously with the advent of the information technology. Everyday we are bombarded with an endless stream of marketing material exhorting the latest gadgets, the ideal lifestyle, what you should do while you're in school etc. Intriguingly, how many of us actually bother to examine the credibility or rationale behind the information you receive? 

When you choose to buy into a lifestyle, the cafe culture, the hottest new blogshop girls. Every moment when you turn on your computer to stalk on their lives, flip through your Facebook to read the latest thought catalog on the things you should have done by your late 20s, we are all consuming something. I used to think I had complete control over who or what I am influenced by, but in retrospect, I think not. When you start following famous pretty bloggers/models, inadvertently you start thinking that the ideal lifestyle includes endless selfies, high tea parties and empty praises from girls you don't even know on social media. Or if you consume news about all the latest entrepreneur whiz kids, financial trends and investment news, you start dreaming of being your own boss, owning that star business or being that rich financier with all your fancy cars and houses.

Initially, I would go pfft at someone who said that centering your life around finance would make me materialistic. But now after 4 years of school, and seeing the diverse interests and lifestyles of the people around me, it is pretty shocking to realise how much I have grown into those little things I've consumed over the years. 

Granted, nobody has a right to say what's right or what's wrong. The point is not to judge anyway, rather, the point lies in the awareness that whatever products/media/thoughts we choose to consume on any platform of our lives, will shape us in more ways than one.

And the thing I'm uncomfortable with, is how we are all addicted to social media, thinking that we now have access to so much more information about others, but don't forget that every time you stare at that little screen of yours, you are allowing others to plant ideas in your head. So choose wisely, for what you see may start defining you without you realising it. 

This is what happened to me at least, and I wish I knew this better when I was younger.

2. Self awareness: the key to setting the direction of your life
This has always been on the top of my mind, something I've come to understand better in my final year. School has blessed me with a fantastic opportunity to discover myself, and I have gained tremendous amounts of self awareness through a series of good and bad encounters. When I was in my first year, self awareness came to me in the form of what I wanted, and my hunger for success and excellence in my time here. There I was all happy and proud I know what I wanted to do, getting a good CAP and thinking I got my life figured out.

Now? I'm just laughing at how naive I was.

Being focused on being successful provided immense drive in everything I do, but it did not provide a direction in my life. I just followed what was defined as the ideal direction to head in life.

As the euphoria of academic excellence wore off, and the road became a lot rockier, I gained and lost friends, knowledge and whole lot of other things, and suddenly I became a lot more comfortable with myself.

It was about knowing what I was good and bad at and being able to come to terms with it. It not about the defensive retorts to cover my downfalls, but acknowledging them to allow yourself to learn and benefit from it. It not about pushing your group to achieve the best results at all costs, but respect for what others want with their lives at school. 
It's tough, but accepting who I was felt so much more liberating than being able to score those As in the exams or being able to earn that couple of thousand bucks in stocks. I wasn't going to be the best, but at least now, I know what I want with my life much better than before. And the best part is, the determination and drive just gets stronger.

3. YOLO: A misconstrued phenomenon?

This is a bitching point, haha. Just to get it clear first. The use of the phrase "You Only Live Once", or YOLO for short, just exploded exponentially towards graduation. I don't know who sensationalised it, but it irks me tremendously when people use it with wanton apathy and disrespect.

Just for the record, in my opinion, people have been "YOLO-ing" for as long as we existed. The true YOLO spirit that is worth assimilating is the one that pushed people into new frontiers, to do things that society said they should or could not. Our forefathers YOLO-ed their way into Singapore to fight and forge the tremendous success that we all enjoy today. Visionaries YOLO-ed their way to create the many feats of civilisation we see today.

Contrast that with what I see today, my goodness. These are real life encounters I encounter with increasing frequency (disclaimer: there is probably some exaggeration given my emotional involvement with this topic)

1."Oh it's the exams tomorrow, but fuck it, I'm gonna YOLO and go and drink and club with my friends"
2. "Damn there's so many assignments and projects due in a few weeks time, I know I'm going to suffer for it but YOLO, I'm going to party with my hunks and babes non stop, all night, I rave, I drink, I sleep, repeat."
3. "This doesn't sound like a good idea, but whatever man I'll do it, YOLO!"

Of course you can YOLO, you don't know or care about your project mates that has to work through the night or sacrifice their grades to clean your shit, or care about your family and the people who have sacrificed so much to give you the best they have, only for you to squander it away recklessly.

It's always good to live it up and have fun, but I think it shouldn't be confused with addiction and lack of self discipline.

I don't know about you, but when I hear this, I just feel ashamed as how spoiled and pampered we have been in this developed world we live in. I also wish that the younger me knew this better, and that I would have been more responsible and sensitive to others out there who indulged me when I decided to be selfish in my pursuits.

4. It's excuses that breaks a man.
I often term excuses as a daily drug. Those of us all hooked up with this drug will find it hard to wean off and not rely on it in our daily lives. After all, it's free, doesn't harm our body and it's so widely accepted anyways. I myself use it and I am shameful of it. If I may make a comment, I would like to say that there's a difference between constraints of a particular set of circumstances, and downright laziness. 

I don't think it's possible that nobody has their moments of laziness, but slathering it with righteous excuses harms nobody but yourself.

Excuses blind our perceptions, protects our egos and gives us the signal that everything is all okay and all. But before long, I felt so inept using excuses to cover up my laziness or flaws because I was proud or that I did not want to be judged. I was my own biggest obstacle, because my excuses prevented me from seeing myself in my barest form, and that I was NOT ok, and I was NOT doing well at all. 

Nobody is going to judge you or spend countless hours trying to poke through your "Excusashield". You should be thankful if anybody tried, because nobody owes us a duty to help point out the ways we can improve.

It's a personal battle with excuses. And I have witnessed the effects of being lost in your excuses and walking around with your "Excusashield". After all, we lead our own lives and the fact that I did not achieve as much as I want because I relied on my excuses only serves as a lesson that it'll be the excuses I choose to use that will make or break my life in the future.

5. Excellence is an attitude, not a choice

I wish I knew this better, and not get influenced when people say things like oh it's lame, don't bother with it, you'll do fantastic if you want to. Thinking back on it, I think I got confused between excellence and results. Striving for excellence in everything I do is an attitude. There's no such thing as being able to be 'excellent' at something at your whim and fancy. Just because we occasionally do well in that essay and presentation when we've decided to put in more effort does not equate to being excellent. Maybe it was just pure luck, or it just signals a potential talent in something.

The moment I thought that occasional praise or freakishly good grade meant I was excellent, I was going all the way downhill, not to mention it was also an insult to the spirit of excellence thinking of how little effort I needed to achieve 'it'.

I confused the meaning of excellence and competence for a long time. I now believe that excellence is an attitude to strive to be the best, encapsulating a positive desire to learn, to innovate solutions to get around an obstacle and this makes for a good attitude that can bring you far in life.

Competence however, can be learnt or earned. It can even be force fed to you in school or at work. Sometimes, we may have a innate talent that allows us to acquire it instantaneously. It may not necessarily be the result of constant positive improvements and sometimes, the ease of gaining the competence just clouds our perception of our own abilities. 

If I were to choose, I think striving for excellence will make me a better person in the long run.

6. Not all that glitters is gold.

Money. Grades. Beauty. Popularity. Power.

How many of the above describes what we want?

I have a few of them. They've been great, that's if they don't consume us wholly first.

 7. A man who is critical of everything may just be the biggest fool.

The lesson that I wish the younger me knew. 

For the longest time I've been bred to think that being ability to be critical of everything meant a certain level of intelligence and astute judgement. Interestingly, sometimes when I hear critiques being dished out in life, it feels like we're desperately trying to create this convincing theory that something is bad just because we should and it makes you look smart. It's a Singaporean thing in my opinion, and something I think is making us really unhappy.

A man who is critical of everything, at the end of the day, may just find that nothing is good, nothing is nice, nothing is tasty. I've heard endless complains of bad teachers, bad music, bad food, bad ideas. And it has never been more ironic when people quip about the food they eat, talking about all the other tastier foods elsewhere and at finishing the meal all unsatisfied and cynical. You just missed all the joys (even if it was lesser in comparison), you could have enjoyed from your meal. Now I have no idea why we like to make ourselves so unhappy over lame things like this by being so critical. Perhaps we're the biggest fools ourselves unknowingly.

8.Where you are today is not by chance. Be grateful.

Just a week ago, I found out that Prof. Low was one of the interviewers that sat on the admission panel 6 years back. It was something I have always wanted to find out as I had a phone interview with no means of identifying the panel. I thanked him and I wanted him to know how much it meant to me, for someone on the brink of desperation, having just flunked his A levels and his self worth seriously undermined. Without that chance that was given to me, I may not even be anywhere near where I am today, and the guilt of not being able to live to the best of my abilities because I was immatured and inconsiderate back then in my JC years would have scarred me for life. 

None of us are where we are today by chance. We get to receive a good education, travel the world, excel in our passions and do so many things that billions of other youths never got to. Some of us might like to think it's all our own abilities and effort. I think not. 

We are lucky to have parents who have sacrificed so much to support us in so many ways. They took care of us, set aside time and money they could have used to eat cafe food and club in their discos and splash it all on alcohol. Instead, they taught us, nurtured, gave us the opportunity to learn piano, ballet and whatever we wanted that they never had. How many of us children can truly say we have made the best use of all that they have painstakingly given us?

The same goes for teachers. Having been a teacher of sorts myself, there is nothing more satisfying that seeing a student grow in character and skill. Teachers and professors don't get extra credit or money, or anything truly tangible to gain when they go the extra mile for us students. I had a culture shock when I first entered university when I realised they don't owe us anything at all. I could be where I am today because of so many wonderful teachers that believed that I would be someone good when I was just being a rebellious loser back then.

The last is your friends. The ones who enriched your minds, provided laughter and love along your side. This includes girlfriends/boyfriends, whatever. I couldn't have found myself without them, and it's amazing how selfless and accommodating they have been.

It's so much easier to be a better person when I learnt to live in gratitude, something I wish I understood earlier on.

And.... That's it! 

Sorry for such a long winded post. Maybe graduation turns me into a sentimental nag.

The next post onward, I'm going to be going back to my tech blog roots! 

8 kinds of friends you make in University

I am often in a dilemma when it comes to figuring my friendships in university. I never succeeded probably. But as the title of this post goes, I would like to talk about the types of friends I've made over these four years. I hope some of these might ring a bell somewhere, but I might just be a weird person so don't worry if you find this absolutely off the rocks.

1) The Heartwarmers
These are the friends that just have their little ways of snuggling up to me with their little words and actions out of the blue. Their love comes in all sorts of shape and sizes. Some of them put up a louring exterior, but carry the most tender of hearts within. Some of them pop up at the most unexpected moments, reminding you that they still care for you when you begin to feel all disheartened over the disappointments from life's struggles. They may not always be friends you hang out with everyday (at least for me), but somehow that flame that sustains the friendship just survives the cold. They're keepers to me, and they will be those whom I would mostly definitely wish to keep in time to come.

2) The Schoolwork Spouse
These are the friends you meet and work with on a daily basis. They are likely to be one of your closest friends in school and you've shared chummy moments with them on many occasions. They may also be your biggest source of heartaches when it comes to friends. Attempts at crossing the boundary of schoolwork is often a shaky and intimidating affair as you are afraid to find out that all these declarations of adoration and love towards each other as friends were mere balls of fluff that disappeared with nary a flash of brilliance under the scrutiny of our self centered hearts. You don't know if you will remain friends even though it seems like you are some sort of best friends, and this dissonance will eat you inside out (especially if you pretty much know that it will all turn to shit and nobody bothers once you graduate).

3) The Frenemy (the bitchy stuff that dramas are made of)
Ever got a sneaky feeling that beneath those nods of approval and exhortations to take up that rare opportunities lies something somewhat nasty? Frenemies are often a sticky mess. You invest time and emotions unwittingly when they first seemed so interested in you and you form fast friends. Then you start hearing inconsistencies from the stuff they say to you, and the stuff they say to others. Before you know it, some pivotal event occurs and they jump on the bandwagon of laser fingers, determined to singe through the fabric of your reputation with farcical stories about you that other mindless people on the bandwagon have bought.

4) The Impossibles
You tried to be friends with the best of intention. It was fine when it was lukewarm at the start. But by some event that artificially hastened the formation of a closer bond (like an exchange, or a close knitted committee), you find out that each of you are akin to the like poles of a magnet, you can never be close friends (or much friends) as fundamental differences in your characters just repel each other. It doesn't have to mean that someone was an absolute bitch, but it just didn't work out, and it probably never will.

5) The Social Media friend (a.k.a Facebook friend)
By some forgotten reason you have this person as your Facebook friend on your wall, not that you actually know this person, but that you've spoken to them once during some orientation camp, or they've added you so they could tag your photos or what not. I often struggle with this group of people, afraid that the hearty wave of my hand will land flat on their cold stoned faces. It's not fun when you have to awkwardly pretend you're saying hi to some imaginary apparition behind them to reduce your weirdo meter. An even weirder phenomenon occurs when they actually start liking and commenting on your social media stuff. Acquaintance aren't supposed to know much about your life or start stalking you right? Writing this post kind of makes me wonder, maybe I should start clearing these people up or to formally make friends with them.

6) The Hi-Bye Network
You've met somewhere and hit it off to a considerable extent. When you meet in school, you exchange your Hi-Bye wavecard to remind that you still remember each other. These are usually interesting people that you're keen to keep in contact with (its a good thing), and they often can blossom into awesome friends with similar passion and vision in life. More importantly, they constitute the diversity in your pool of friends that you never know one day, they might just be the missing piece of the puzzle that unlocks your purpose in life. Exaggerations aside, you probably never got to the stage where you started wondering if they've drifted or gotten closer to you as a friend. Maybe they never will.

7) The 7-11 friends
You guys started out because they were like a 7-11 store -  Convenient, interesting and always there for you 24/7. You got all caught up with them when you started school or joined a new hall and everyone's just so strung up with the novelty of making new friends and making an impression on each other you act all chummy and you think these friends are the best you've ever met (and you will probably neglect your own friends as a result). Time passes by and the novelty wears off both ways, and you just drift apart as quickly as you formed. Sometimes its because someone got out of hall, found another bigger and more happening group of friends, found prettier and hotter girls to club with and to associate themselves with. And then you realise, it was all just a brief friendship of convenience that was nice and fun, but that was just it.

8) For the lucky ones - The friends for life
You don't know really know why, but this group of you just bunched together at the most random of circumstances and nobody ever left the group ever since. When you need a helping hand or feel like partying, they are the first to come to mind and you know they will be there no matter what. You genuinely care for each other, and you are even good friends with their parents. Not many of us still have the space in our hearts to accommodate such a demanding, yet rewarding group of friends that definitely defined your years as an undergraduate. Even after you graduate, you're always actively meeting up and planning for that next awesome trip together. You've gone beyond the trepidation of affirming the closeness of your friendship, and nobody doubts each other anymore.

I guess that's the end of this random piece of writing. Let me know if you guys think in the comments below!

Fujifilm xt-1 review update! + sneak peek on Fuji 23mm 1.4R

"and so he deliriously stumbled onto his bed and slumbered on for days, not quite sure where his life was headed to now that he handed in his baby, wrapped tenderly in a clean brown envelope..."

Here's my melodramatic recount of my life ever since I handed in my dissertation. Don't you love how we all like to act all literary and creative with big words with irrelevant pictures? (Instagram is chock full of it haha)

Anyway, I feel great! Freedom calls for another follow up post on monoclebarnacle on the Fujifilm xt1 that I've been using for the past week or so.

Some thoughts about the camera:

1) It's really good-looking. Everywhere I go, people notice the good looks and praise the  feel of it. Even girls with disdain for geeky techie stuff can't help going wow. If there was a Mr. Universe for cameras, The XT-1 is going to be a real strong contender for the crown. Heh.

2) The directional pad feels like that old Playstation controller in the Challenger store that got ravaged by the crummy fingers of angry young schoolboys. It has little to no tactile feedback and sometimes I have to consciously look at the back of the camera to know what I'm pressing. It's soft and a little too shallow for rapid operation. Not my favorite, after coming from DSLRs, where the directional pads feel much more robust.

3) Jpegs straight out of the cameras are pretty good. A little smeared here and there which gets on my nerves but the colours really astound me at times. Not always the most accurate in white balance and colours but its a pretty charming package as a whole. Not to mention the recent dry spell turned Singapore into a dry and dusty pseudo-autumn landscape. Pretty nice for picture taking though, if the haze wasn't in the equation.

Now let the pictures do all the talking. All of these pictures are not edited at all, shot mostly on Provia (standard) or Astia (soft).

Pretty lovely isn't it? For something totally unedited! (At least not on a computer)

Next up: I've just gotten the Fujifilm 23mm F/1.4 R prime lens.

Here's a sneak preview of it!

A real hefty lens with a 62mm filter thread size. As with all fuji lenses, this one feels really solid to the touch, with metal parts used throughout the lens. And I have to say, this lens is pretty sharp wide open at f/1.4! The depth of field is pretty hard to control but I'm seeing some real promising stuff coming out of this lens! I will update again once I've shot some serious stuff with it.

Before I end, here's a little camera geek tidbit for you guys out there (that's reading this virtual space). 

White Balance

You've heard this word being thrown around by pompous photographers when you've got a photo that's really yellow or orange (sounds familiar?). We kind of know what is it, but how is it relevant to photography after all? Here's a chart for you to know what exactly is colour temperature in everyday light.

Credit: www.digitalcameraworld.com

So what does this have to do with your camera? When you take a picture with auto white balance (most ppl use this), it tries to sense the colour of the light in your photo to accurately portray the degree or warmness/coolness correctly. However most small cameras are quite poor at this as their auto white balance abilities are pretty poor, which means it can't sense the colour of the scene properly when its out of its range (such as way too yellow/orange). Photographers use a grey/white card to counter this, by taking a photo with the grey/white card in the scene first, after which they can use it as a point of reference for all the subsequent photos taken. If I'm not wrong, you can just shoot anything that's pure white in colour for reference later on. From there, you can just adjust the temperature till the paper is pure white and you will get an accurate white balance! Be sure to employ this little trick the next time when you edit your photos!

Feel free to comment if you have something you would like to read about the next time!

Fujifilm Xt-1 unboxing + hands on!

Fujifilm XT-1, the king of the Mount Fuji! (get it?)

Alright I'm just kidding.

Finally got a call today to collect my pre-order package for fuji's latest camera XT-1! A pretty good timing since I've just completed my first draft for my dissertation and I've got a little time to do some hands-on the camera!

Here are the unboxing pictures! 

All wrapped up nicely in the box

Plan view to see the dials

From the back!

From top left: Charger + cable, neck strap + metal connecting clips, 18-55mm R kit lens, XT-1 body, NP-W126 battery + the add-on flash (weird thing but guess what at least it there's a flash).

Really nicely designed.

Crappy front shot

First impressions:
Wow I have to say, this camera scores big on looks and feel. Body feels light, yet really compact. It feels fully metallic with no cheap plasticky feeling which is really nice, since it didn't actually add on to the weight! Compared to my d800, this camera feels like a feather. 
The rubbery grip feels solid, but somehow it feels a little small to hold tightly, probably not the most secure grip which I probably will be adding a battery grip or hand grip to improve the overall hold. Everything else seems pretty okay, except for the buttons at the back that kinda feels mushy without a solid click and tactile feedback (which is present in the x100s).
Once you turn it on though, the magic begins. You'll be greeted by a really nice tilting 3" 1.04mil dots LCD screen, and when you put your eye to the viewfinder, you start to understanding what's the big fuss with the latest EVF from Fuji.

It's really good. (I still can't decide if I like OVF better though)

It's like peering into a FHD mini screen inside. And Fuji has reduced lag on this unit to just 0.05s (1/10th of previous Fuji models). I can't quite tell what's the difference though, just feels pretty snappy anyways.

EVF has the advantage of being able to display a hell lot of information real time, like your history etc while you're shooting which can be pretty nifty. It reflects real time changes as you switch your aperture and exposure compensation which is really nice too. However when it gets a little dark, it kinda looks smudgy with a lot of noise and grain which you don't get on the OVF (but then again, in the OVF it's just dark and you barely see anything haha.)

How does it shoot some of you may ask. Well I only had the X100s for comparison, and if you want to compare to that, then XT-1 is without a doubt, extremely fast. Autofocus on the X100s is decent, but not really mind-blowingly fast though, I actually get moments where everyone's just waiting for me to lock on the focus. I've only had a moment with the 18-55mm kit lens, which has been rated pretty good and we all know focus speeds depends on the lens too so it's probably not a great comparison between a digital rangefinder and a mirrorless system.

Feels exciting so far, can't wait to try it out for a longer period of time. Key features that's really interesting for me so far:

1. In-built wifi with a fully featured app. You can change settings, view it on live mode, do interval shooting without having to use a clunky wired remote, change focus points and many other things. Now this beats many of the other clunky wifi cameras/cards I've seen and used.

2. Hugeass EVF! I can now put 2 screens inside the viewfinder that's gonna allow me to do manual focusing with so much more ease. X100s has already proven itself to be a real joy and experience to use with its focus peaking  features.

3. Overall handling. Just look at how sexy (in a geek way) it is, with its small but substantial size, along with a fully featured weather sealed magnesium alloy body (the whole thing!), it sure seems really promising! So far, it just screams of premium quality to me. Lol.

4. Image quality. Latest sensor (same as the X100s) from Fuji? Checked. I've used the X100s and boy the image quality (I've shown u guys a picture didn't I?) is really good for something so small. I'll be posting up an amateur review of the camera with the lenses when I've taken it for a good test drive.

My apologies to the all you cool kids out there but this post is filled to the brim with geeky goodness. Hope you've leveled up in your geekness with this post and maybe you can join league of geek gods in time to come! Thanks for reading =)

P.S. I promise a non geek post the next time alright!

Dissertation is a wonderous phenomenon that makes you feel like many things. (Fujifilm XT-1 included)

It makes you feel like a sloth, seeking only to sleep the moment you wake up and start staring at your 15 inch black box.
It makes you feel like days and months ceases to exist, and the only end goal is to churn out your dissertation before you hit the deadline.
It makes me feel so fat and sedentary I am starting to feel pregnant with my crummy tummy.

On the bright side, it makes me feel like going out there into the sun and spend a whole day running around and have fun.

Well, returning back to my original promise of a tech geek blog. Here's a posting of my latest impending camera review.

I had the privilege to get my hands on one of the pre-launch orders for the latest Fujifilm XT-1, the latest highly anticipated mirrorless Compact System Camera (CSC) of 2014.

Now some of you might be wondering what the heck that is. Well. In the current camera market, there are the compact cameras with slim bodies and the inability to switch lenses. They're definitely the most portable out there, although with the poorest sensor capabilities.

What a cutie eh?^

On the other spectrum, you have the DSLRs, big black sexy chunky things that I have lots of fun with. They are still pretty much one of the best you can get in terms of image quality, handling, autofocus speed etc. Not to mention you can only get full frame sensors on DSLRs (with the except of the sony A7/r). However, they are huge, heavy and with a good lens like the 24-70 or the 70-200, you're lugging 2-3kg worth of weight. Definitely not what you would call portable, though some hardcore camera warriors might beg to differ.

Yup that's a beast right there

So what is this mirrorless business then? Well, in the industry now, more companies are pushing out cameras that no longer relies on the pentaprism, which requires to have a mirror in your shutter like the traditional DSLRs. There are many advantages to it, like lesser vibrations from the shutter and stuff, but it's still a pretty new technology compared to the dslr, although many say it's the camera tech of the future. Examples include the well known micro 4/3rds, the Sony APSC Nex (or recently known as the rebranded alpha series), and more notably in our example, the Fujifilm APSC sized X series. So mirrorless cameras have started to fill the gap between compact cameras and full sized Dslr cameras, and their capabilities have grown so much that now it is starting to be possible that these lightweight medium sized cameras can take images with qualities on par with Dslr. 

Imagine, awesome images without the back breaking weight? Real sexy.

So what's a Fujifilm XT-1 you guys may wonder. If you haven't heard, it's their latest addition to their recent but outstanding X series. 

It was the camera series that sparked the recent craze over all the retro looking compact cameras ranging from the Nikon Df, gx7  etc etc.

So why is the XT-1 so exciting? Take a look for yourself.

It's Fujifilm's first foray into an SLR like body with a crazy huge and bright EVF and a WEATHER SEALED BODY all decked out in manual controls.

That means you no longer have to handle clunky stupid menus on a touch screen and jog dial that gets you to the iso menu only after 1980523 moves. Yes I'm looking at you Sony.

Fuji's main weakness throughout their first generation X series cameras like the XE-1 and XM-1 is always about their autofocus system. Fortunately the company is known to continuously improve on their cameras even after release (which boosts consumer confidence) and you'll be surprised, no other camera company really bothers. However the XT-1 is rumoured to boast of the latest 'predictive AF' system that is like the AF-C of the DSLR that actually works! At least I hope so. Now that would open up the world of sports and wildlife photography to many photographers out there.

Another thing I really like, is how Fujifilm has built a system of outstanding lenses from scratch so quickly. Have you tried any of their amazing lenses? The 56mm f/1.2R, 23mm f/1.4 R, 35mm f/1.4R, 18-55mm. Unlike most companies, Fuji's kit lens, the 18-55 f/2.8-4, is no joke at all, it's well built, sharp and compact. Only thing it costs $900+ brand new. That's insane coming from the fact I bought sigma 17-50 f/2.8 OS at only 600+ for my d7000 back then. Prices are definitely not cheap, but their lenses are definitely of fantastic quality.

Check out their roadmap, how many camera companies actually bother to publish a clear roadmap so you can save up your cash for it?

It's my first go at a CSC apart from the X100s, which gave fantastic image quality that honestly shocked me when compared to my nikon D800 full frame. Here's an example of my lovely girlfriend shot by the X100s.

I shan't bore you with all the technical details of the XT-1. But if you're interested, check out the following websites for more information.

Fuji global site

After my dreaded dissertation is over, I'll be posting up unboxing videos of the XT-1 and maybe a little review of it. So stay tuned, folks!

And so it begins.

Today marks the first post ever in my hopefully illustrious journey of a tech loving geek blogger. Now be ready world, cause it's gonna get real badass.

Yup. I wish I was that cute but unfortunately I actually look way less badass and maybe on the retarded-esque side.

Well ain't that a cutie. 

Well some of you might be wondering why my blog is called monocle barnacle. A monocle's pretty much the kind of old one sided lens geeks wore back in the early days. 

Cute huh ;)

Just kidding. I actually meant it more on the astronomy side. A monocle is actually one side of a pair of binoculars. 

And it also kind of resembles one of my favorite things on earth.

No prize for guessing what it is lol

So yup inspiration hit me and I decided to call my blog a monocle barnacle. Doesn't that just sound sexy? A hunky thing with a rock hard body toting a camera with a 'monocle' on it.

Check out this badass sexy barnacle (trust me, I tried to find something sexier). Heh.

Well, nonsense aside. I'm going to start writing about daily musings and of course, going to start doing some chillax reviews on a whole load of random geeky gadgets I just can't wait to get my hands in. Till then!