Reverse Camera retrofitted to BMW116i

(Above) Reverse camera module and camera unit and audio, video wiring. For greater safety awareness when reversing and to watch for any obstruction that are at the blind corners of the 4 rear sensor fan shaped proximity range, we decided to install a reverse camera tha is retrofitted to display on the OEM i-drive display in the F20 BMW 116i. We went to Soundwerkz, a car audio workshop located at Sin Ming that is familiar with BMWs. This was very important as the rewiring works for the reverse camera requires a seasoned installer who is experienced with BMW electronics to ensure less possibility of electrical faults.

(Above) Not for the faint hearted. Diassembly of console to do rewiring and installation of the video module for the reverse camera. An experienced BMW installer is a must as it is important to take out everything carefully and install back everything to original condition.Kelvin, the boss of Soundwerkz, came down to explain to me personally the type of reverse cameras available and the featues. We decided to go with the latest model recommendedby Kelvin which displays both the camera image view and the oem park distance control optical display simultaneously on the i-drive display. This camera and video controller unit are made in Taiwan and feature high definition image, especially important for night parking or where the carpark is very dimmed. The new camera unit also features reverse guide lines and trajectory guide lines that move in relation with your steering inputs.

(Above) Reverse camera operational with parking guide lines in broken red, yellow and green lines and the trajectory steering lines in yellow and red lines moving in tandem with steering inputs. To the right of the camera image is the parking distance control icon with proximity imaging. The installation started at 9.30am and ended at about 2.30pm after completion of wiring, instalation and testing. As the reverse camera is a new product, there were some inherent hang issues with the camera and on a second trip to the workshop which Kelvin and his guys diagnosed as a faulty camera unit and replaced with another new camera and so far, the reverse camera has been working smoothly. Good service from the guys at Soundwerkz. The Soundwerkz team takes care during installation and recovery phase to protect your car from unneccessary blemishes or scratches by wrapping your car interior extensively as protection against accidental scratches and knocks.

(Above) Foil wrapped interior of our car prior to installation. Kelvin although he was busy also took time to activate source code at my request to enable the digital speedometer to be displayed on the multifunction driver's display. This is usually done at a price but it was compliementary, courtesy of Soundwerkz.

(Above) Digital Speedo display

(Above)Soundwerkz guys testing reverse camera after installation of camera unit and video module. The camera unit cost $1100 without GST which Kelvin said was a launch price since mine was supposedly the first local BMW 116i to be retrofitted with it. This is a fraction of the OEM BMW reverse camera which costs $4800.00 and pops out of the rear hatch handle whereas our Taiwan made cheaper alternative is mounted above the license plate but no less effective and much cheaper.

(Above)Camera lens unit mounted just above the rear license plate.

DAY 1 - Arrive in Seoul and check in ( Part 1 )

(Above) Seoul from the air as we approach to land at Incheon.

We plan to take a night flight from Singapore so that we can save on a day since we can sleep on the plane. Arriving at Seoul Incheon International Airport at about past 7am in the morning and after clearing customs, we will proceed to the Tourist Information Center.

(Above and below) Incheon International Airport Seoul and floors

It is located on the 2nd floor of arrival terminal beside Gate A and F , or #1-2 . The TIC is opened from 7am to 10pm. It is staffed by staff fluent in English and offers information on finding good accommodations, tourist attractions and other information tourists may want while they are travelling in Korea. The staff at the Information Desk also provide print-outs of data on specific places that visitors may wish to go to at their request. We will also visit the International Taxi booth at the airport to discuss with the information officers there and book a taxi for a day for our planned Korean drama location tour. The International Taxi information counter is located on the 1st floor of the passenger terminal at Incheon International Airport.


(Above) Interior of the Somerset Palace Serviced Apartment
By the time we have arrived, we would hopefully have a secured an online reservation for a serviced studio apartment at the Somerset Palace Serviced Residences at No. 85 Susong-Dong Seoul 110-885 South Korea. This location is in downtown Seoul, beside Gyeongbok Palace, in the heart of the city’s business and financial district. Nearby are the many restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues located along Insa-Dong and throughout the Jongno-Gu area. We plan to book for 5 nights stay there. Managed by Ascott International, a reputed company that runs a number of modern serviced apartments throughout the world, including 5 in Singapore, we felt that we would be at least assured of reliable and honest service because you can’t be too careful with online bookings and transactions. Somerset Seoul Palace is managed by the Ascott Group, which is owned by of Capitaland which has Temasek Holdings as one of it’s investors which technically means this place is so Singaporean which should translate to some form of Singaporean reliability So, in effect, we are somewhat supporting a Singaporean enterprise while overseas. As part of the Ascott Anniversary celebrations worldwide, they are offering up to 25% off the published rates.

(Above) Exterior of the Somerset Palace Serviced apartment.

Importantly, the apartment design and amenities in the Somerset Palace suits our needs and budget. They offer a promotion for Citibank card holders with a studio apartment daily rate at approximately 156750W inclusive of 10%VAT taxes will be roughly in the region of SGD$185 a night, a good rate for a 5 star like apartment with home amenities like broadband internet access, cooker hob and hood, kettle, crockery, utensils, cutlery, microwave oven, refrigerator, toaster, hairdryer, television with cable and satellite channels, air-conditioning and heater facilities, telephone with IDD, washing machine and dryer. Alternatively, you can check with Misa Travel :
http://www.hotels.com.sg/Korea/Seoul/Ascott/SomersetPalace/index.htm where the booking rate could be as low as SGD$150 depending on the season.

We can either check with the Incheon Airport Tourist Information Centre on an alternative way to get to Somerset Palace or we can take the suggested route offered by Somerset which tells us to proceed from the arrival floor(1st floor) of passenger terminal to bus booth 5B for bus number 6011. Each ticket costs 9000KW ( SGD$10.40) and the bus journey lasts approximately 1hr. Waiting interval for each service is approximately 20 minutes. We will alight at Anguk Station and take a 4 minute walk to our destination – Somerset Palace Seoul. This bus service starts at 5.35am and ends at 10.25pm daily. Travellers with heavy baggage, child or the elderly are not recommended for this bus service. For us, it will be fine since will be travelling with backpacks which is easier to store or stow on our laps.

On arrival, we will check in if it is within the stipulated check in time period which should usually be from 2pm onwards. If we arrive earlier, we will leave our luggage at the reception and set out to have early lunch. We have two options : One is that if we are not too tired, we can explore some eateries around around Susong Dong as we do not want to venture too far if we have to check in at a later time. If not, we have a German Korean restaurant on site within the serviced apartment complex. There is also a Starbucks coffee joint, a ice cream parlour. We may also buy some snacks from the 24hr convenience stall there too.

After getting the keys to our serviced apartment and checking that all the appliances work so that the damage compensation if any is not on us, we will probably take a short break and take a look at the map. At the Somerset Palace serviced apartment that we will be staying, we are informed that there is a Starbucks for caffine addicts, ice cream place for a sweet tooth, and 24 hr. convenience store with atm located in the hotel. Breakfast is also served daily until 10 am. The buffet is the same everyday. It has both Korean breakfast and also American. The American options include pancakes, eggs, french toast, toast with butter or jelly, muffins, watermellon, pineapple, bacon, sausage, cereal and juices.

( To be continued )

Day 7 - 1st Day in Tokyo

(Above) Tokyo Haneda Airport Control Tower Terminal

On arrival at Tokyo Haneda airport Terminal 1 (North Wing) at 1.35pm, after collecting our luggage, we will head for the tourist information centre on the 1st floor, Unit 3-2 to get free maps and information. The tourist information centre there is staffed from 9am to 10pm every day. (Above) Haneda airport terminal interior ( Terminal 1 for JAL domestic flights )

By the time, we leave the airport, it would most probably be about 2.30pm. We will head for the Tokyo Monorail Counter located on Basement 1 to purchase tickets. As we have arrived on a Sunday, we will be entitled to purchase the Monorail and Yamanote Discount Tickets allows passengers to travel from Haneda Airport Terminal 1, Haneda Airport Terminal 2 to anywhere on the JR Yamanote Line for ¥500(SGD$7.43). It is a reduced fare ticket that is only available on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, and it is extremely handy for access to the center of Tokyo or to the metropolitan areas.
(Above ) Tokyo Monorail

It is just right for us since to travel to our hotel in Shinjuku, we have to use both the Tokyo Monorail and JR lines and without the discount tickets, we would have to pay ¥660(SGD$9.80). We will most probably catch the 3.01pm monorail and it will bring us from Haneda Airport Terminal 1 to Hamamatsucho station(below).

(Above) Bustling Shinjuku

There we will make a transfer to the JR Yamanote line and proceed to Shinjuku station. We are reminded not to leave our tickets in the automatic ticket barrier since our tickets need to be reused for transfer to the JR line.

(Above) Koshu-Kaido Street , one of the oldest main streets in Tokyo, en-route to our hotel.

Once, we exit from Shinjuku station’s south exit and take a leisurely 15 minutes walk along Koshu-Kaido street(above) and turning into the intersection between KDDI Building(below) and Shirjuku NS Building where our hotel - Shinjuku Washington is located.

(Above) KDDI Building , a point of reference to guide us to our hotel - Shinjuku Washington
(Above) Where we will be staying in Tokyo - Shinjuku Washington hotel

By this time, we estimate it would be about slightly past 4pm. We will check into the hotel, settle down and have a rest before we set out at 5.30pm. (Above) Shinjuku station

From Washington Shinjuku hotel, we will take a 10 minute walk along Koshu-Kaido Street towards JR Shinjuku station. I plan to use JR Shinjuku station as a point of reference for us to move around the attractions of Tokyo.

(Above) Central layout of surrounding shopping areas of Shinjuku station

Basically, from what we learnt, there are three main exits at the station. The "East Exit" leads towards the high street shopping area; The "South Exit" leads towards the Times Square Shopping Centre and the "West Exit" leads towards the skyscraper and business zone. Arriving at Shinjuku station, we will take a walk around the station building as it is well known for its vast selection of shops and restaurants inside the station building as well as its underground mall and famous department stores in the area. They include the following :

(Above) Lumine EST facade at night


(Above) Snoopy corner at Lumine EST store

Lumine Est - above JR's east exit

Odakyu department store (above ) - above the Odakyu line concourse

Odakyu Mylord (above) - above the southern end of Odakyu line concourse

(Above) Cakes Galore! Sweet Treats! (Below)

LUMINE 1 shopping mall - above the Keiō Line concourse
LUMINE 2 shopping mall - above JR's south and Lumine exits

Keio Department store (above) - above the Keiō Line concourse

Keio Mall - underground mall to the southwest of the Keiō Line concourse

Odakyu Ace - underground malls beneath the bus terminal by the west exit.

In addition to the above, the Metro Promenade, which is an underground mall owned by Tokyo Metro, extends eastwards from the station beneath Shinjuku-dori avenue, all the way to the adjacent Shinjuku-sanchōme station with 60 exits along the way. We will probably shop till we drop or until the shops and stores close between 8pm to 10pm. Along the way, we will head for one of the many eateries in Shinjuku area. One good source of where to eat in Shinjuku can be found at the following URL : http://www.bento.com/ra-shinj.html

We will then head back to our hotel for a rest and also find some way to create more space in our backpacks for more shopping tomorrow.

Just a little trivia on Shayna

Recently, Tanny , a good friend of ours suggested that we try to align Shayna alongside an object to show her relative size and we thought that was an interesting idea. So here she is measuring beside a 160g can of Pringles potato chips to show a rough gauge of her size.

Week 3 - Shayna

Us with Shayna after her grooming session

Shayna has been with us for 3 weeks now and she's grown in size now, measuring 38cm in body length now. Today, she went for her grooming and the groomers at Macho Pawz, the pet shop downstairs our block were commenting that she's a mischevious girl.

Shayna bringing her own doggy for a walk around our house.

As usual, she was whimpering when we left her at the groomers. She went for full grooming session inclusive of toothbrushing. She's very curious these days and like to stand on her hind legs balancing for a few seconds, to look up at what we are doing when we are up on the sofa or bed. She's also manja as sometimes when Gayle and me are having a conversation for a while and she feels neglected, she will bark at us. Sometimes we indulge her by coming down on the floor and playing with her but sometimes we will tell her off and then she will sit and look at us with very sad looks trying to soften our hearts.

She has also shown her possessiveness over the both of us. When we are at Gayle's parents' place for dinner, we will bring her along with us to let her mingle with Tisha, the family schnauzer. Whenever Tisha wants to come near us, Shayna will rush at her furiously and try to nudge her back even though Shayna is so much smaller than Tisha. She doesn't want us to be near Tisha. She also mark the dining hall at Gayle's parents place as her territory and will rush at Tisha if Tisha approaches the dining area. Very naughty and jealous , isn't she ?

We have cut down her meals to twice a day to fit in with our working hours, one meal in the early morning and one meal when we are back in the evening. We have taught her to sit for her food also(Below).

Our ROM celebration

ROM CEREMONY - 1ST SEPTEMBER 2007

For us, our ROM was THE OFFICIAL WEDDING for us as we were more keen on a cozy get together to celebrate our marriage rather than those huge events where we dont even know half the crowd. Thus we envisioned a small cozy event at a nice, hip place with close family and friends. Being kiasu, we started our planning 9 months ahead and below are some of the things we did to make the ceremony a wondeful memory for us both -

VENUE : GLASSBAR @ THE JEWEL BOX , MT FABER

For us, when we first sought out a venue, we considered a few factors like budget, good sales support, flexibility to cater to our needs and that X factor ( scenery, uniqueness etc ) We found that in a uber cool hip joint at The Glassbar, Jewel Box located at the Mt Faber Cable Car Station. It is actually a diner cum bar during normal hours. As the name depicts, it is a glass enclosure with wonderful views from the vantage point at MT Faber overlooking Harbourfront, the coastal area and Sentosa. We liked the contemporary look of the place and it was very good for photography wth plenty of scenery and light.

For the food, at that time, they had two different menus and we chose the one with items like sushi and sashimi since we liked Japanese food. While it is not exactly cheap for $70 pax considering that you only get a light tea buffet spread, it does include a beautiful venue which is worth it.

Oh yes, for those who are going there, do check out the washrooms,especially the female washroom one floor below which has a lounge area and wonderful views, we took some good pictures there ! Below are two shots of us at the washroom.

For those who are interested, you can log onto http://www.mountfaber.com.sg/main-events-venue.htm or call the sales executive who served us - Siew Wen at 98220431. She was quite helpful and took the initiative to highlight certain areas for improvement,such as the arrangement of the seating layout etc. She was on hand throughout the entire ceremony to ensure everything went smoothly.

FLORIST - REDBOX

Speak to Ching about your creative floral ideas. She is quite easy to banter with and will take ideas readily. More importantly, she will go the extra mile to do a gd job and even throw in some feebies to make yr floral decor look perfect. As Gayle likes sunflowers and we though sunflowers add a cheery and happy mood to our bright and cool venue, we chose a floral decor based on sunflowers, geberas, and yellow roses. Each table had a floral tableset which helped to brighten the venue and become conversation pieces for our guests. The guests could bring the floral pieces home so that gave them something to talk about and show. To line the walkway bridal passage to the solemnization table, we had yellow rose petals which 'lit' up the passage way and added colour to the photos. Ching also string strips of yellow geberas on the glass panes which looked like it was raining yellow geberas which was very cheerful and romantic.

For our bridal car, we chose of course sunflowers to keep with the theme and also, the sunflower is the flower of choice for the Beetle. We also ordered a pair of bride and bridegroom figurines from the Precious Moments website to complete the decor. We asked for a yellow colour theme to depict the cheerfulness and happy day for us and of course, no organza as it was too cheena! We asked for yellow silky cloth to drape the car. We also wanted to revive some interesting traditions so we asked Ching to customize for us a just married sign to be placed at the back of the car and also to secure tin cans to trail behind the car as we drive off. You can contact Ching at http://www.redbox.com.sg/ and ask for a customized floral decor package based on yr budget.

BRIDAL CAR :

We didn't want the traditional Mercs, BMW or Jaguar ! As i owned a beetle before and used it for my brother's wedding, i felt that it was quite a good bridal car in sync with the theme of love since the beetle is commonly known as the Love Bug. We decided on a cabriolet as we just wanted a very stylo car and the open air feeling! Please do look for yr bridal car way in advance due to popular demand for cars like the beetle cabrio. For us, we booked the car 10 months ahead.

For those who are interested in the beetle cabriolet, and a white one which is quite rare, you can contact her owner Candy Pan for rental details. Drop by her Blog - http://beetlerental.blogspot.com/ . She is very friendly to banter with and do ask her for her complimentary customised just married plates. There is nothing like a cabriolet to make your day even more special!

PHOTOGRAPHER AKA VISUAL ARTIST :

For our ROM photography, we engaged the services of Kuang from 39 East who is well known for his journalistic and artistic rendering of shots. It was wonderful working with someone who was very passionate about his work, yet had no airs and was very good natured and just easy to banter with. The photos you see in this blog of our ROM are all testimonies of his exceptional works. If you are into details, moods and flair for abit of adventure in your shots, Kuang is your man. I would see him more as a Visual artist than just a photographer. Pls note that he doesn't take posed shots. For that, you either get someone else to take posed shots or you can ask Kuang's colleague Eng Hong for a favor to take the posed shots.
To contact him, go to http://www.39eastimages.com/ or more details of his works, go to : http://www.39voices.blogspot.com/

STRING ENSEMBLE :

To add to the romantic feel of the ceremony, we hired a String Ensemble to play romantic classics to entertain the guests and provide musical backdrop to the venue. We also requested for them to play the wedding march theme which was Pachelbel's Canon in D and really, the soothing and live musical notes from violins, cellos and bass really made the moment special for us. For those who are keen, do look for Elaine from Grace Notes - http://www.gracenotes.sg/
Feel free to share your requirements with Elaine and she is very helpful and professional, keeping you up to date closer to the date and also sharing with you clips of past performances.

SOLEMNIZER :

Justice of Peace - Mr Chan Kai Yau. We selected him based on good reviews in bridal forums from other couples who havehad him solemnize their marriages. Indeed Mr Chan was very good. He was punctual on the dot, was very meticulous( he is quite detailed and formal in explaining the proceedings to us). He has a respectable presence and a commanding and firm voice and is able to speak in both English and Mandarin. During the ROM, he displayed a playful sense of humour when he made me shout out YES I DO by saying mischeviously that he couldn't hear me. Also, as both of us are teachers, it was a pleasant surprise to know that he was once the former Director General of Education at MOE, imagine us teachers being solemnized by DGE! Mr Chan is very popular with couples so we would advise you make an appointment with him way before your wedding. For us, we booked a date with him 10 months before our ROM date.