Congratulations to German Soccer Team

I need to buy a new jersey or Adidas shirt with 4 stars now....!

Walking Unaided Now

Hi,

I hope you are not shocked by the Title above ...!

Since Nov 2008, I have been wearing a bulky knee brace else I cannot walk longer than an hour when I am out of the house as the knee would hurt.

 

Sometimes I used the umbrella or a walking stick to help me walk if there is a need.

 

I have never taken pain killer for any discomfort in the knee but rest instead if it hurt badly and move around with a knee guard or walking stick ( I used to have one in the office and one at home at one time...! ).

 

I also use a plaster like Kentotop or equivalent overnight on my knee if they really hurt or even iced it too.

 

My Dr has suggested that I go for a total knee replacement surgery as he believes that is the only solution. Since I choose to delay it, he recommended me to wear this bulky knee brace instead.

 

While I have seen or met a few people who have successfully undergone the knee replacement surgery and it is quite common esp for elderly folks who really could not walk due to intense pain in their knees, I wanted to delay the operation as long as possible.

 

I sought physiotherapy to strengthen my leg muscles so that my knee would not hurt so much and also tried to lose some weight too. There were some results but my physiotherapist also commented that I cannot run away from  undergoing a knee replacement surgery one day.

 

I have been looking for options and to delay the operation as it can only last an average of 10-12 years and a second knee replacement is necessary BUT you can only do such a surgery twice in your life only as they have to cut your leg bones in order to do the replacement.

 

I was delaying the operation so that with the advancement in medicine and technology, there will be improvement in the knee replacement surgery; eg last longer than 12 years and eventually only one operation will do.......?

 

For the past year or so , I have been monitoring this advertisement on Apostherapy available locally. Eventually, I went for their talk and after researching for more info on the Internet, I decided I wanted to give it a go if it can help me delay my knee replacement surgery early this year.

 

I signed up for their 1 year programme in late Feb 2014 and I just have my 2nd review with my physiotherapist at Apostherapy yesterday. There have been significant improvement and I have to continue wearing the shoes and sustain it, as shown in their test results too.

 

Since May, I have stopped wearing my bulky knee brace and I was able to walk for more than 1 hour without complaining of pain and when there was some slight discomfort , I would walk with a more pronounced limp but unlike last time, I would look for a place to rest or hurry to go home to rest.

 

Freedom at last ....!

 

Even my wife was surprised when we were shopping or running our chores in early May and I was not wearing my bulky brace and moving around the whole afternoon in Orchard Road...!

 

I went back to Penang in late May to attend my niece wedding and I did not wear my knee brace and I did not bring my Apostherapy shoes along too.

 

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying it is a miracle and I am 100% back to normal as if my left knee is as good as before. It is not!

 

But my objective was to walk without my bulky braces for more than an hour and it looks like it has been met in about 4 months....!

 

Well, I strongly recommend you to try out Apostherapy if you have knee and lower back pain.

 

Honestly, I am surprised by the results and I am very happy with it.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Image Editing Course

I attended a short Adobe Photoshop CS5 Image Editing course over 4 full Saturdays in April 2014 and after passing their test held on 3 May 2014, I was awarded an ICDL certificate recently.

I am also learning Lightroom 5, on my own by referring to books ( borrowed from our local community library in Bedok.

Lightroom is a similar software but designed specifically for Photographers and has an interface to Photoshop too.

Here is a sample of the capabilities of Lightroom 5 and Photoshop:

This is a photo taken at my own home studio and no editing has been done to it yet.

This is the result of editing done with Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS5 software.

I used Lightroom to crop and enhance the image and then used Photoshop to replace the background by making use of Layers which is not available in Lightroom.

I also refer to YouTube videos on how to use certain features in Lightroom and Photoshop; eg Filter - Extract, Refine Edges in replacing the background of the photo.

If you are into Photography, you definitely should learn how to use Lightroom and Photoshop software to enhance your images as and when necessary.

Digital Basic ( Night & Lighting ) Photography Course Certificate

I was awarded a Pass with Merit for my Digital Basic (Night Photography & Lighting) Photography Course that I attended in Feb 2014.

The class was conducted by the Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS) ;
http://www.pss1950.org/

For some details on the course, you can refer to my previous posting at
http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.sg/2014/02/night-photography-class.html

Here are the 6 photos that I submitted for the class assessment :

 Scene from Anderson Bridge in the evening.

 

Scene from Anderson Bridge at night.

 

Marina Bay Sands

 

Garden by the Bay

 

Chinese New Year light at the Floating Platform in Marina.

 

 Papaya leave

I have just completed my Studio Lighting course and submitted my 6 photos for assessment.

I look forward to taking another course in Basic Travel and Techniques soon.

Amy & Rowdy Beach Wedding at Batu Ferringhi in Penang, Malaysia

Congrats to Amy & Rowdy on their lovely wedding held on 21 May 2014.

 

 

My family & I flew to Penang to attend their wedding and here are a few  photos taken that day.

Tea ceremony

 

My family with my parents, brother Charles and sister Susan.

 

Jason with Rowdy & Amy including Eleisha too, who was one of the bridemaids. Lovely background with the sunset by the beach.

 

Cosby family with Rowdy

 

 

Note : Amy is my niece, her mother is my younger sister.

 

Surprise Overnight Guest

Last Tuesday , just past mid-night, when Jason was walking home with his 2 friends...... they came across a dog wondering along Lakeme Street in our housing estate.

It looked lost and when Jas called it over, it came and smelled his hand and Jas stroked its head.

I got a call from him to bring our dog leash to bring the lost dog home for the night. He got one of the friends ( who is our neighbours ) to meet me and bring me to him and the dog.

When I approached Jas and the dog, it was quite a sight as the dog was sitting comfortably next to Jas. You would have thought that it was his pet dog.

We brought him home and gave him some water and he drank quite a bit of it.

BTW, it is a big dog... like a husky but a mixed husky....?
  
While he was very friendly and obedient and answered to our command like Come and Sit, I was still a bit cautious with him as he is a BIG dog and if he jumps up, he will be same height as me.

Afraid that he may be destructive to the potted plants and stuff we have in the car porch and garden , I chained him but he has ample area to move around.

He seems settled in and we just hope that he would not bark loudly and unnecessarily......!

I woke up the following morning and took a peep at him from the window and found him still resting, moved closer to the table so that he got more shade from the morning sun.

I opened the door and he got up to come to the entrance, looking for some attention...?

He was still very calm and friendly, no barking for food or attention..... good dog!

I started to get in touch with 2 of my neighbours who are dog owners to ask for some dog food for him.

They brought some dried food and I fed him. He ate about 3 small bowls and seems to have a big appetite indeed.

I decided to take him for a walk to let him ease himself at the nearby Aida Park, which he did...good dog!

I was planning to put up posters of a Found Dog with his photo but I thought maybe I should check out for Lost Dog poster of him nearby instead.

I walked him back to Lakeme St. where he was found...... He was panting though we were not walking fast and the weather was not so hot yet. I am started to think that he is older than I thought.

As we walked along Lakeme St., he stopped and sniffed in front of a house but no sign of recognising that it is his home so we continued and I was going to approach a maid sweeping in front of a house when a maid came running from behind and shouting  "He is my dog...!  He is my dog...!  ".

Apparently, he escaped from the side gate last night ...... She told me that he is very friendly and 12 years old.

I asked her to bring her dog leash but she said no need and I unleashed him. He slowly walked into the house through the side gate and then turned around and gave me a last look.

I was happy and relief that he found his home and spared me the trouble to go looking for his home instead.

I forgot to ask for his name in midst of all the chatting with the maid and excitement. But I took note of the house no. instead.

Glad that it had a happy ending....... for all of us...!!!

Digital Basic ( Foundation ) Photography Course Certificate

I was awarded a Pass with Merit for my Digital Basic (Foundation) Photography Course that I attended in December 2013.

The class was conducted by the Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS) ;
http://www.pss1950.org/

 http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.sg/2014/01/my-photos-submission-for-basic.html

I just completed another class, Night Photography, and awaiting the assessment results from my submission of 6 photos on the class topic.
http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.sg/2014/02/night-photography-class.html


I am now attending a class on Studio Lighting.

Happy 21st Birthday ..... Jason..!!!

We could not resist surprising Jason on the actual day itself, 17 March Monday.

We bought him a Manchester United (MU) training soccer t-shirt that afternoon when we were shopping at Tampines One.

 

We also put on MU shirts to have a family photo too..... ha..ha...

 

In fact, I also bought him a MU mug too.....!!!

Happy 21st Birthday, Jason !!!

We celebrated Jason 21st birthday a week earlier.

 

 

We bought him a dress watch for the occasion.

 

 

Well, Jason will always be our baby boy ..... ha.... ha.... so we told him...!!!



Night Photography Class

I attended my second class and it was on Night Photography in Feb 2014.

There was an outing for a night shoot held at Anderson Bridge and it was quite an experience to see the colour of the sky changing during the sunset...

See for yourself below the series of photos taken...

Taken at 6:40pm

Taken at 7:10pm

Taken at 7:40pm

( I like the blue sky in the background )

Taken at 8:25pm

( The background is now dark )

 

I am the one in the red polo shirt with my instructor on my right,

camera set up on tripod and waiting for the sun to set.

 

I am really enjoying myself and learning new skills in my photography class.

For those who are interested to find out more on the classes, please visit this site to find out more about Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS):

http://www.pss1950.org/