Scared me to death when I saw this in the tank this morning... I thought my pet shrimp (I wish I know what species it belongs to >> anyone knows?... Apparently my dad doesn't know as he just bought it from the aquarium shop) died in such a cruel way and got eaten away by the smaller shrimps in the tanks. I alerted my mother and she was shocked too, but then she ducked her head down and looked under the small area.. lo and behold... there it was.. black-ish in colour.. The above picture is the molted shell of the shrimp... First time I ever seen it. YEAH!!! It's molting means it's growing bigger.
I couldn't really take a picture of the "new" shrimp because it's hidden under the small gap as in nature it would do so as the body is still soft and prone to predators...
Happy happy... ^_^ Shall take note of it's molting period next time...
By the way, is it a lobster or a shrimp??
***It's not a shrimp nor is it a lobster... It's a crayfish and no I am not intending to eat it when it grows big.
Went to Omni-theatre today after the lecture. Didn't go there to watch any movie. Went to the Astro shop to look at telescopes. Spent almost 2 hours there doing nothing and listening the GM of the shop talking to my brother about telescopes. The prices of those things are also astronomical. I think my dad and younger brother is planning to get one of the telecscope at that moment but the price tag is able to burn a large hole in the pockets. I heard that they are going to go back after discussing it over the weekends.
There is a small exhibition about the Deep Sea at the omni-theatre. Showed a video about the Deep Sea exploration and the creatures found there. The most digusting part yet interesting part is that they have got preserved samples of the Deep... Ranges from fishes, crabs to eels, some of them are even dated in 1997. But looking at those glass containers made my goosebumps rise and sent shivers down my spine because some samples are really eerie especially those with the extra large eyes and the sets of spiky teeth. There is no entrance fee for this mini exhibition so you can go take a look.. Oh and they have got 3 live giant crabs in a temperature-controlled tank. When I was there, one of the care-taker was feeding them prawns.
After the walk around the exhibition, headed over to Chevron's chinese restuarant for dinner. Waited for around 1/2 hour because they only start work at 6pm. When we enter the restuarant there, we were the first so we were like being served by 4 people. At that time, you will feel like a king but I don't really feel comfortable with so many people serving at one go although it was efficient. My dad ordered a-la-carte. Though one person is around $30, it was worth the whole deal. We ordered 8 dishes initially and then added another 5 dishes. So in total, 13 dishes excluding the dessert. The menu had 36 dishes to try but we were unable to conquer even half of the menu. What did we have? Let me see if I can list all of them.. haha..
Add one more red bean paste for dessert.. hee.. there's really a lot of variety. Right now.. I am real full and satisfied. ^_^ If only I have had a camera phone, I would have taken all the dishes and post them here.. haa
Okie.. What I saw the other day was the moon... It was setting so the red-ness of it... Feel kinda stupid now that I don't know such things.. =P
TOKYO - Japan's Princess Kiko on Wednesday gave birth to the royal family's first boy in more than 40 years, ending for now a succession crisis and silencing calls to let a woman sit on the throne.
The princess, just one week shy of her 40th birthday, gave birth to the third in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne at 8:27 am (2327 GMT), the palace said. "This morning Princess Kiko had an imperial prince," an Imperial Household Agency spokesman told AFP.
The boy weighed a light 2.6 kilogrammes (five pounds, 10 ounces), media reports said. In the first of a series of imperial rituals, Emperor Akihito was to give his fourth grandchild a ceremonial sword. He will be named later.
All television networks cut in to special programmes on the royal birth, airing past footage of the ever-smiling princess, a housewife who grew up in a middle-class apartment and already has two daughters.
The boy is the first to be born to the royal family since his own father Prince Akishino, the emperor's second son, in 1965. The boy could ease pressure on Crown Princess Masako, a former career woman who has suffered stress and mental illness trying to adapt to the tradition-bound palace. Masako and Crown Prince Naruhito have one child, four-year-old Princess Aiko, in 13 years of marriage.
The surprise news that Kiko was pregnant more than a decade after her last child in 1994 delighted conservatives, who believe the monarchy has passed along a paternal line for more than 2,600 years.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a reformist who steps down later this month, had supported introducing female succession, putting Aiko in line to the throne, an idea previously backed by a majority of the public.
But under pressure from the conservative wing of his Liberal Democratic Party, Koizumi dropped his proposed reform of Imperial House Law after news of Kiko's pregnancy.
The front-runner to replace Koizumi, conservative Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, has criticized female succession.
"Discussions on the imperial succession issue will subdue for a while and encourage conservatives to push for the continuation of a paternal line," said Kouichi Yokota, a professor of law at Ryutsu Keizai University.
"But that does not mean the debate is over," said Yokota, a royal expert. "There is no guarantee of the continued existence of the imperial family unless flexible succession rules are introduced."
There were eight female emperors in Japanese history, but all were direct descendants of male emperors and succession returned to the paternal line after each female emperor abdicated.
Koizumi's proposal, which was written by a panel of experts and prominent public figures, would have put Princess Aiko in line to the throne and let her first child follow her regardless of sex.
The royal family is widely revered in Japan and the birth was expected to give a boost to the economy.
Toshihiro Nagahama, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, estimated the royal birth could bring about 150 billion yen (1.3 billion dollars) to the economy as more people decide to get married or have children.
Koizumi has voiced hope that Kiko's pregnancy would encourage Japanese to have children. The population shrank last year for the first time since World War II, a problem blamed in part on the cultural difficulties for Japanese women to juggle careers and families. - AFP/ir
Adjusted the contrast, brightness and sharpness. Took this at around 2 am in the morning.
Did the same editing with another shot because the original one was kinda dark and blurry. Okay, I admit that my photography skills at night is really bad. I had no idea which mode to use.
Solarize effect of the 2nd photograph
Metallic Effect of the 2nd photograph
Took the scene again at around 2.08am. Intensity of the redness starts to fade away.
Here's what happened:
I was working on my tutorial at the computer till 1.50am this morning. Deciding that it was late enough, I switched off the computer and walked into the living room and as I was walking past I noticed some red and bright from out side the window. I went to the window and saw the above picture (1) and (2). Was staring at it for a few minutes and finally took the camera and took pictures. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I came out it was fading (not very fast rate but you could detect the colour fading as time pass by). At around 2.10am, it was not above the HDB flat anymore and while I was watching it fade away, it did not dip down nor did it move in any direction.
Is there anyone who could tell me what it was? Was it the moon as my brother had told me? If it was the moon, why did it fade away and why is it bright red? The size of the red thingy was also large, a bit larger than the moon I always see.
I think I will be staying up tonight again to see if it will reappears. Guess the tutorial for tomorrow morning I will have panda eyes.. haha.. Hope it appears again if not I will be wasting my time.
The New York Times recently ran a story titled "Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last." In it, the reporter wrote, "Lim had chosen to perform a difficult rock arrangement of Johann Pachelbel's "Canon" for his video after the Taiwanese guitarist Jerry Chang did the same last year, and Lim's version eventually found its way onto YouTube under the name funtwo."
As for the writer's take on the quality of the performance: "Over and over the guitarist's left hand articulated strings with barely perceptible movements, sounding and muting notes almost simultaneously, and playing complete arpeggios through a single stroke with his right hand. Funtwo's accuracy and velocity seemed record-breaking, but his mouth and jawline - to the extent that they were visible - looked impassive, with none of the exaggerated grimaces of heavy metal guitar heroes."
The contrast between the soaring bravado of the undertaking and the reticence of the guitarist gave the 5-minute, 20-second video a gorgeous solemnity, the American newspaper said.
Since Lim posted the video of himself playing guitar on YouTube eight months ago, curiosity over his true identity has swelled on the Internet due to the musical talent he revealed in the 5-minute, 20-second video, the newspaper added.
"While Lim has been the subject of much Internet chatter regarding his guitar prowess based on his now famous video," it explained, "the 23-year-old has remained quite modest."
Lim was quoted as saying to the newspaper, "Some said my vibrato is quite sloppy. These days I'm doing my best to improve my vibrato skill."
Watch the "performances"... eh.. click below
Personally, I think it's amazing that he can play at such speed, just look at how the fingers move. This showed that he practiced a lot. If he is to really play live with audience around, I would melt to pieces, literally... hahaa =P