After years with my Canon S95, I recently switched to an Olympus E-P3. Yes! A PEN! In between this and the S95, I bought and then sold off a Canon Powershot G1X. That camera didn’t quite fit into my lifestyle and needs so for the longest time I’ve been shooting (almost) everything with my mobile phone.

Now that I’ve got the Olympus E-P3, things are going to be different. I’m bringing it with me whenever I’m out with my family and friends. Never know when you’ll find chance to snap some pretty photos!

I bought this during the PC Show weekend, and they were having some special bundles with every purchase. Also during that period, they announced the pre-ordering of their latest and even better E-P5. So this old model, the E-P3 was on a very special deal. I got all of the above at just $630 + $37 for the filter.

Before I headed out to Cathay Photo at Marina Square, and after some quick research online, my mind was set to get the E-PL5. At the store, I tried both the models and the E-P3 just felt better and more comfortable for my huge hands. After some quick calculation (E-P3 bundle with more things and at much cheaper price) I paid for the cheaper and older model. Still I think both are equally as good with some minimum differences.

Things I love about the E-P3:

• The whole look of a PEN – classic and stylish
• The touchscreen that allows me to focus and snap at the same time
• The many Scenes and Art filters
• Ability to change lens (just means more money will be spent on improving my gear!)
• Compact size
• Great image quality – better than the S95 and much much better than my mobile phone

So far I’ve only used it for a day since I bought it, but with the upcoming break I’m giving myself, there will surely be much more snapping and nice photos! Can’t wait to snap more with the E-P3!

Day 1 of Echelon 2013 was an insightful and fruitful session. My first Tech Conference after many years of “hiatus”. I’ve to say, it is a refreshing experience and I hope to draw out more time to attend more of such events. Many interesting startups were spotted at the showcase and picked up quite a few useful tips from the main conference.

Here are my quick summary from today’s sessions at Echelon 2013…

Uber is an iOS and Android app which allows you to request for an on-demand private driver regardless of your location.

For those attending Echelon 2013, all you have to do is sign up for an account on your iOS or Android device and select Max Atria as your end venue, which the promotion is pegged to. Each attendee will receive a free S$50 usage which you can either spend on a single trip or split it into two trips with each having a S$25 value. To help you better understand how you can use the app to make your Echelon experience better, e27 included a short tutorial here.

I’ve tried Uber once, out of desperation as it was raining during super peak hours and I was late for work. I downloaded the app and requested for a ride, my ride took 25 minutes exactly (as stated on the request) to travel from MBS to my place in Punggol. The driver alighted from the black Mercedes and opened the door for me to enter. The ride was smooth and the driver was very polite. I did not have to dig out change to make payment when I arrive at my destination and the driver will open the door for you to alight too. Whole experience was great, the only sad part is the bill. With a 1.5 times surcharge for super peak hour ride, my ride totaled to SGD61!

Still Uber is a very cool and useful app to have in the phone, cause you’ll never know when you will need a ride urgently but has no cab available for call.

At Echelon 2013! Where else? It’s been FOUR years since I ended my first e27 event, the E27 Unconference. This lean team has grown so much since they started in 2006. They deliver tech startup news, trends and personalities relevant to startup communities in Asia at e27.co. And they are the one that organizes the much-celebrated Echelon conference. Which I am attending!

Get 10% off individual tickets with promo code ClaudiaSG!

Two days of great sharings from the greatest minds! Just thinking about attending such an event again (after years of “hiatus”) makes me super hyped up! Here are some of the highlights I’m looking forward to:

I happened to be buying lunch for my friends at work one day who wanted BK burgers, so I decided to get my favorite mushroom swiss burger. The auntie at the counter suggested I upsize my meal as I’ll get a free notepad which contain discount coupons for future BK meal purchase. I proceeded with her suggestion, got my meals, paid and left. Only when I was out of the mall then I realized she had forgotten my notepad. Too lazy to walk back, so I just left as it was.

Back at the office, this BK post appeared in my feed, so I just casually posted a comment to let them know what happened. Didn’t expect them to do anything since it was a small case. But I got a reply and I followed up with them, just to see how far BK will go to recover a customer experience.

So I replied to them via PM through their page two days later…

Hi, the outlet is the one at City Square mall. Was at the store around 11.40am on 10 May, Fri. The auntie suggested I upsize to get the coupon but she forgot and I only found out after I left the mall.
My mobile: 9xxxxxxx.

Thanks.

And on the same day, someone from the City Square outlet called to offer to send the notepad to me or I can head down to collect from the store. I told her I’ll SMS my mailing address to her later; and I forgot! In the evening, she sent an SMS to remind me and I’m happy to see that Burger King staff is willing to go to such extend for their service recovery.

Seeing that they are sending a staff just to deliver a small notepad to me instead of via standard mail, I decided not to let them do it. I don’t like to trouble people lah, sending someone to send a small notepad is just too much effort. I’m happy as it is. So I replied…

And this was what I got in reply…

I am very pleased and thankful for BK and their staff to want to make a customer happy. This is what I call good customer service and decided to share this with everyone. Too often we see complains and bad feedback passing around, I hope good things like this will be shared more often too.

Thank you Burger King for your kind gesture and I’ll continue to support your burgers of course. Who else got better tasting Mushroom Swiss and Onion Rings right? ;)

Finally a post on this almost forgotten blog! LOL! With so many updates from friends on their experience at Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura, it triggered my cravings for some Dim Sum too. This restaurant from Hong Kong has started a new craze in Singapore I’m sure. All other Dim Sum places must be booming now or feeling the threat.

To satisfy my Dim Sum craving, since Tim Ho Wan is not my basket of boas, I went to try out this old school kitchen along Changi Road, serving Cantonese and Sichuan style halal food. They serve Dim Sum all day too!

This blog is so outdated. There isn’t much to write about these days, except for the sharing of press releases which I seriously still have second thoughts of doing. I know some blogs are doing very well just by sharing press releases and categorizing them nicely. But but but… *shrugs*

Just checked my google analytics after many many months, and its comforting to see that the traffic is still going well. Many old posts are still very much relevant and well searched. Bulk of it are on my traveling and staycation posts. I need more time and money to do more of that.