I hope this post isn't gonna disappoint most of you, if you were looking for an essay-long review on Dancing Crab, I'm sorry!!! I'm just gonna briefly talk about it and end off with some pictures!
Visited that place about a week or two ago, with Jianhao, NOC and a few others to try out the food. However, I guess it was my loss as my appetite wasn't at its best performance that day, and therefore I only had a small bite of everything... Mainly the fries and ice cream at the end of dinner.
90% of the time, I was just busy taking random photos and didn't exactly manage to savour every moment. Despite having only a countable amount of bites, the taste from every dish I had lingered for a bit, and that's pretty commendable. My favourite were the extremely juicy and sweet prawns!!!
What I found really amusing was how plates weren't served, and all the food has to either be strewn on the table or consumed directly from the pot. Smart move Dancing Crab, saves you the trouble from washing the dishes! :p
As far as I know, they've quite a decent variety of sauces to go with the seafood, from extremely spicy to non spicy. To your own preference!
From this tiny experience, I can still safely assure you that this pleasant restaurant, with a welcoming ambience, is somewhere you should visit at least once! Great to hang out on a weekday evening, or even in the afternoon, and especially if you wish to avoid the busy crowd in town!
Prices are surprisingly affordable for such fresh, yummy seafood, and perfect to hang out with your friends or family in large numbers!
Would love to revisit Dancing Crab to give it a "real" try some time soon.
Address: The Grandstand 200 Turf Club Road (Old Turf Club in Bt. Timah)
#01-20/21 Singapore 287994 Tel: +65 6466 3303 Opening hours: Tuesdays to Fridays and Eves of Public Holidays - 5pm to 10.30pm
Saturdays to Sundays and Public Holidays - 11.30am to 3pm - 5pm to 10.30pm
Mondays - Closed
Due to the crazy response I had the previous time, on the things you guys have been dying to know about me, (click here if you've yet to read) I decided to come up with a second entry! This round, answering some of your questions on how it's like to be a part-time blogger.
1. Why did you take up blogging? What was the inspiration behind your blog?
I took up blogging around the age of 11. Back then, it was the period when everyone had a blog, and I just felt like it was "cool" to have one too; which I used to blog about my daily life. It was only until my first hit post, titled "Mothers," which was a post dedicated to my best friend back then who failed to cherish his mother, when I started to take things seriously. I saw how my small group of followers were inspired by that post, and that made me want to continue blogging. I love writing, and my dream has always been to share my views and thoughts with people, and hopefully they can be able to relate and learn from my experiences.
2. What do you think makes a good blog?
Interesting and good-quality photographs, content that covers things people want to read about, clear readability, consistency, a unique and organised blog layout.
3. What is the toughest and most enjoyable part of blogging?
Toughest - being flamed for being honest, and enduring hate comments. After all, we live in a democratic society which permits the freedom of speech, and the things we say online can easily get us into trouble.
Most enjoyable - To know that I have the ability to inspire others. And I like it when my readers come up to me in public and introduce themselves. It's great to make more friends!
4. How has your status as a well-known blogger influenced your daily life? How do you determine how much to reveal on your blog?
That's probably one thing I've to worry about most. I've to be at my best performance at all time, because I know people are watching, and I used to feel like I've to put up a front. However, throughout my entire journey in the blogsphere, I started to realise there are people around who appreciates my honesty, and truly love me for who I am. Besides, there will always be haters. I can't please everyone.
I'm actually pretty open about the things I say on my blog, I don't see why I've to hide. People will still talk about it, and instead of giving people the chance to fabricate a pack of untrue stories about myself, I think I should speak up for myself. If I don't, who else will?
5. How do you decide what topics to blog about and how do you keep yourself consistently creative?
I like covering things that teens like myself, can relate to. BGR, Friendship, Fashion or any "hot" topics." I seek for people's opinions, to know what they'd like to read about at times.
6. What are your thoughts on the recent surge of lifestyle blogs and what should emerging bloggers do to establish credibility?
I feel that everyone's dying to get popular these days. I've seen so many people who are around the age of 12-14, having their own blog and wanting to share their thoughts. It's not a bad thing, cos that's how I got here today. However, as simple as it sounds, to just have a blog and start writing... Developing a personal identity and being able to sustain in this circle, isn't just a piece of cake. Like how rome isn't a built in a day, success doesn't come overnight. Yes, considering how easily things can get viral today, it's not tough to get yourself known, but quality is what makes people stay. I won't guarantee I'll still be here, a few months from now, but if there's one piece of advice I could give, always stay true to yourself and be original.
You can do what everyone does, but there'll always be this constant pressure laid upon you whenever comparisons are made. So instead of being like everyone else, why not be the one that everyone wants to be?
7. With a constant stream of new bloggers, we imagine it would be extremely hard to stand out amongst the crowd. How long did it take for you to establish your popularity and what do you think sets you apart from the rest of the bloggers?
I used to question myself what makes me so special from the rest, I used to feel like I'm not good enough. However, someone once told me, "there will always be someone better than you, but not everyone has the ability to do what you do, and there will definitely not be a second you." I'm still not confident enough to say that I'm the cream of the crop, and even though I'm really competitive by nature, I just try to do the best I can and what others do don't really matter to me. It took me about 3 years to build everything I have now.
8. Many teenagers are insta-addicts. Do you have any photography tips to make your snaps more attractive?
Good lighting is the key. With the perfect lighting, every picture can work wonders. And never over-filter your pictures. That was what I used to do, but I realise it can make your pictures look bad sometimes. "VSCO's" my current fav app. I purchased all the extra filters.
9. How do you manage to cope with school, your love life and career?
Relationships have never really been my priority ever since I had to juggle both, my studies and work simultaneously. Whatever it is, work has to come first. I've been in and out of several relationships over the years, and it wasn't until my last relationship that I realise how many other things can bring me joy as well. Yes, I've always been the kind of girl who fantasises about meeting her prince charming, and I won't stop that from happening when it comes.
10. Would you quit studying to focus on blogging?
NO. DEFINITE NO. Blogging's just secondary to me. I'm aware that there are many routes to success these days, but education is extremely important to me. Surely, street-smart has its own perks over being book-smart, but I always believe that there isn't such a thing as "too much knowledge." Doing well is easy, but to succeed, you've to be the best and never settle for anything less. I'd certainly take a year or two off to focus on blogging in future, but getting a degree is necessary to me.
Alright, if you've more questions you can always tweet me or email me, and perhaps I'd answer them in my future post!
Since a very young age, I've been very intrigued by all sorts of cameras. I don't know why, but they just seem to excite me. From old school film-cameras, to compact cameras to a SLR, then a DSLR and more that I probably can't name.
Not that I've superb photography skills, cos I don't, but because of my dad's interest in this field, (and nope, in case you wondering, he's not a photographer) I've a collection of more than 10 different cameras at home.
Isn't it amazing how cameras have evolved over the years?
Just a fun fact I found online: Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham), invented the first pinhole camera, around the1000AD(also called the Camera Obscura.) And the first camera with a true photograph was in 1826 by Joseph Niepce.
Some brands I had my hands on previously are, KODAK, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Casio and Samsung. Samsung has gotta be one of my current favourites!
Back to the point of today's post, some of you may have already guessed it....... I'd be sharing about my new camera, the Samsung NXmini today!!! :D
*Grins*
The Samsung NX Mini: Carry the Style, Capture the Best
As a blogger, or even as a girl, it's required of me to take pictures most of the time, whether it's for advertorials or just to update my Instagram and it becomes a HUGE problem when there's no one to take my photos for me.
Sure, we have tripods and even selfie sticks these days, but it's such a hassle to race from your camera to your ideal position and rather unsightly to hold a selfie stick in the middle of (for example) town. Hence, most of the time, I've to take at least 10 photos in order to get one good shot. YOU KNOW HOW SUCKY THAT IS?! I think any girl would be able to relate to that.
Besides, it's even worse when the camera doesn't have a flip screen and my photo would end up looking ridiculous as hell. Thinking I'm standing in the right position where I fit into the frame, and BAM! *Checks picture* It's either anything but myself, or a super unglamorous picture like...
Anyway, my life was made a lot easier when I was introduced to cameras with swivel screens. Which is exactly the point of this post, cos what's so special about the NXmini if there are so many cameras out there that has this feature as well? With so many people raving about it, and how its features sound soooo promising, is it really as good as it claims to be? You'll find out more today.
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First, it comes in 4 trendy pastel colors such as Mint Green, Pink, White, Brown. And as indecisive as I always am, I had a super hard time picking because the first 3 happens to be my favourite colours, and I thought brown was kinda cool as well because it has a vintage look to it. (Black's not available in S'pore.)
In the end, I went with Mint green cos I felt like it's the most uncommon colour amongst the rest. Pink would've been a good choice too, but I thought it was a little too girly for me... So nah.
Besides how it's obviously extremely slim (22.5mm Body) and light (158g Body) here are some of the things I love about the camera.
1) Auto on with just a quick flip of the display & Beauty Face Mode
You know how at times, you just wanna take an immediate selfie, but even though it's just a button away, it gets a little annoying to wait for the camera to start up?
Well, what the NXmini does is that it switches on automatically once the screen is flipped, it also has a 3 seconds timer function that allows you to kinda prep yourself before the shot is taken, and I LOVE its beauty mode!!!
Then again, almost every camera has a beauty mode today, but I swear it's different!!! I don't know if it's just me, but most cameras with the beauty mode gives this "dreamy" effect and even though it hides my flaws, it looks extremely artificial. However, the NXmini doesn't and the pictures end up looking rather natural.
Here's a picture taken with the camera.
Makes my skin look pretty flawless, doesn't it? Don't be fooled. :P
2) Built-in and external flash.
Not only does it have an internal flash, the product comes with an extra external flash as well. But honestly, with a little help from the ISO and Aperture, the flash lights aren't even necessary. Which is another good point about the camera.
3. Long Battery Life (Up to 530 shots; 2,330mAh)
4. Tag & Go (Able to transfer photos from NX mini to any NFC-compatible smartphone seamlessly)
6. Bundled with Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 5
3) Touch screen shutter
To your lives a lot easier, you can also take your pictures simply with just a single touch on the screen.
4) Wink and Smile Shot
Super impressed with how these two work. Apparently the camera detects your smile or wink and captures a picture for you, which saves you the extra effort from clicking on the shutter.
The only downside is that the sensor isn't really sensitive when you've more than one person in the picture, because it loses focus. But well, I prefer using the normal one most of the time though, so it's not much of a problem for me.
5) Interchangeable lens
Comes with a 9-27mm Lens, wide lens (which means that you can capture more of what's around you) or you can get a 9mm pancake lens which makes it extra light and portable.
It would've been better if it has more bokeh, and not that "flat" though. It's a lot lesser compared to the other Samsung camera (EX2F) I own. (In case you don't have a clue what bokeh is, refer to the pictures below. It is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.) However, after all it's just a 9-27mm lens, so it's understandable if it doesn't produce as much of that effect.
Here's the compartment on the side where you charge, insert/remove your card, transfer your pictures etc.
It uses a Micro SD card and unless you've an adapter, it can't be inserted to your computer. To compensate, at least it comes with a cable that allows you to connect to your comp. And what I like is that Samsung cables are compatible with many devices.
The NX mini also comes with some filters you can play around with. And also something extra special: the full version of the Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 5! Exciting news for Photoshop junkies! ☺
6) Wi-fi and Tag&Go function
It has a built-in Wi-fi and NFC which makes it possible to share your photos within seconds and send them to a smartphone or tablet, as well as upload directly to social media sites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter etc. In addition there is support for uploading to cloud storage, including Dropbox, so that you can quickly and easily backup your photos without having to use a computer.
My other cameras that have the Wi-fi function would usually reduce the size of my photo for quick transfer, but one thing that I'm fond of of the NXmini is that it allows you to send the original image to your smartphones without affecting its resolution and I've tried transferring 30 images previously, which took me only about 3 minutes.
Pull, twist, and turn to unlock the lens.
Switch to manual mode if you wanna adjust your settings to your own preference.
Did I also mention that it provides Full HD 30fps video? So not only can you take chio photos with this, you can start recording your own videos as well. Also, with so many things running, I bet you guys would expect it to run off battery really quickly... To my surprise, it doesn't! It says to last up to 530 shots; 2,330mAh and I guess it's true? Cos I actually used it for three days consecutively, and I still have one bar left! Kudos to that!
It is extremely user-friendly and handy, although it does feel a little flimsy and hard to grip onto due to its really thin body and the plastic material use on the body of the camera gets a little slippery at times too.
Nonetheless, it is a camera I'd definitely recommend you to invest in if you love taking photos and looking to settle for something that's less complex compared to a DSLR. It may have functions that a variety of cameras can deliver, but how often can you find one that performs as well as how multiple cameras do? So I think you should own one too!
Ending this post with some photos taken with the camera, without filter. You can judge the quality for yourself!
Find out more on the camera (here) and on this video that Jian Hao did:
This will definitely help you decide whether you wish to get one for yourself or not! :D
Thank you Samsung Asia Pte Ltd for sponsoring me :)
naomi neo
“You can choose to focus on your imperfections, or work the shit out of whatever you have instead.”
