TingTinging

DIY Onesie Sushi

2014-10-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Materials Used:

Onesies as rice
Pink socks as ginger and sashimi
Green beanie as wasabi
Yellow wash cloths as egg
Orange wash cloths as carrots
Black felt as seaweed
Washi tray to hold the sushis
Tako Plushie
Chopsticks

till next time... <3tingtinging

Muir Woods - Mill Valley, CA

2014-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Stepping back to California... I hiked Muir Woods recently and thought that I'd share some photos of this amazing place.

It was a misty but sunny morning

The fog starting to burn off.

Saw some very prominent spider webs on the way...

Capturing the light

Exploring the trail

Descending deep into the woods.

Enjoying the tranquility

Capturing the colors

Creepy tree

Hospitable trees

Very large fallen tree

Upright trees

Trekking through the woods

Ascending the many flights of stairs on the way back.

One last look up upon the trees.

There were quite a lot of people hiking the trails in Muir Woods. However, at times we found ourselves lonely and surrounded by the erie sound of nothingness. It was nice. I truly enjoyed the peace and calm sheltered underneath the trees.

Till next time...

Beautiful Isle of Capri

2014-10-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

It was just picturise at the Capri Island...

Sorrento

2014-09-23T20:26:00.001-07:00

Bonjurno! Eeek it's September already? Super late travel pics below...

Enroute to Sorrento - Amalfi Coast?

The Valley of the Mills

The Abandoned Mill - Day

The Abandoned Mill - Night

Hmmm. Lights are on at the abandoned flour mill??? Creeeeepppy.

Italia - Roma

2014-04-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

*stretch!* Well hello! I'm back from a long hibernation. I'm here to share some of my favorite photos from my recent trip to Italy:

Piazza Bocca della Verita

Castel Sant' Angelo

Bramante Staircase

View from Bramante Staircase

Colosseum

Piazza Navona

Trevi Fountain

Next stop... Southern Italy. Till next time. :) <3tingtinging

DIY cash book

2013-10-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

It's wedding season! It's time to celebrate and to be creative...

Another alternative when gifting monies for a special occasion, aside from a money envelope, would be to gift a cash book.

FYI - I went to the bank in search for crisp new bills, but they told me that they only have new bills around Christmas and Chinese New Year. However, they were kind enough to sort through what they have so that I would have nice crisp bills for this project. Thank you!

<3tingtinging

ten thousand hours

2013-09-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

"... ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class expert - in anything..." - Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.

I suppose if one was to practice something for ten thousand hours, it would be something he/she is passionate about. The first thing that comes to my mind that I have practiced over ten thousand hours is accounting. Having worked at a public accounting firm for over five years, that tips me over ten thousand hours. I feel like I have achieved the level of mastery to a certain extent and I also have to admit that I do enjoy my field of work, most of the time.

However, aside from work, I have a creative side. I have many many hobbies, but none of which I have committed a significant amount of time to. I took violin classes for a few years back in grade school and a semester of piano in college, but I never reached the point where I feel comfortable with the instrument. At times I would think it's because I don't have the "ears", being practically tone death, but I found hope!

"The closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play..." - Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers

So perhaps I could master a musical instrument... I will start working on my ten thousand hours with my electric keyboard, and one day, when I am able to play fluently, I shall reward myself with an acoustic piano.

<3tingtinging

fotor

2013-09-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

As promised, more Bay Bridge photos:

This time, I played around with the special effects using the FOTOR app. The special effects are noted in the photo. The intensity of the special effects could be adjusted. The exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, blur/sharpen, and white balance adjustments are also nice features that are simple to use.

It is estimated that it'll take about three years to deconstruct and remove the old Eastern span... I'll have to remember revisit in a few years and do a similar shoot after the deconstruction.

<3tingtinging

shutter speed

2013-09-07T00:00:00.002-07:00

With the excitement of the new Eastern span of the Bay Bridge, I took the opportunity to work on low light photography.

According to wiki... "In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time a camera's shutter is open when taking a photograph. The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time."

In the first photo above, I set the shutter speed to .0125 (1/80) seconds. In the second photo, shutter speed was at 0.02 (1/50) seconds with all other settings remaining the same. In the last photo, the shutter speed was set at 0.1 (1/10) seconds, again with all other settings remaining constant. Notice that with a longer shutter speed, the camera was able to pick up much more light. We can now even see a part of the old Bay Bridge.

On average, we could hold the camera steadily without support for about 0.01 (1/100) second. With the longer shutter speed in the shots above, I rested the camera on a still object to capture the photo.

More photos of the bridge to come... till next time!

<3tingtinging

happy national dog day

2013-08-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Happy National Dog Day! <3tingtinging

DIY $ envelope 2

2013-08-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

I must of had too much fun in July. I totally didn't even blog once!

Anyway. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Summer is the season of graduations and weddings. If you have trouble picking out gifts, money may be the way to go. To dress up the gift, here are some DIY money envelope ideas:

Click here to see my first DIY money envelope post

double trouble

2013-06-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Warning... cute pet contents below:

I spent the weekend stalking these two with my iphone to capture these moments.

Double Trouble

Can we go for a walk yet? Walk, walk, walk!

Then when the two are napping, I spent some time with iMovie...

Have a great week!

<3tingtinging

funnies

2013-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday! <3tingtinging

photoshop

2013-06-22T18:39:00.001-07:00

I spent the whole day photoshopping. I'd have to say that trial and error and hours experimenting have improved how I maneuver around the program and my approach in enhancing photos.

Before:

After:

The photo had a yellowish hue, so if I remember correctly, I used a cooling filter. I also brightened the photo and then distort the photo by applying a diffuse glow which gives it a dreamy effect.

I took these photos last year at my cousin's wedding. I received a free photobook offer so I decided to enhance some of the pictures from the celebration and create a memorabilia.

Here's another photo I played with...

Before:

After adjusting the shadows and highlights, diffuse glow...

This photo I adjusted the color balance to change the color palette...

Till next time everyone!

<3 tingtinging

the bean

2013-05-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

It's been awhile. I want to share some photos I took in Chicago. Enjoy!

These flowers are everywhere! Love them.

White Cherry Blossoms?

More flowers. @millenium park

Alien invasion? Just kidding.
The famous bean, officially known as the Cloud Gate

Really tall chair

Buckingham Fountain

Chicago Tribune Building

More foliage

Sky Scrapers

Photos from the architectural boat tour

I'll leave you with the...

View from the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

<3tingtinging

4.15

2013-04-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's already mid-April and that means that your 2012 income taxes are due tomorrow Monday, April 15, 2013.

If you need extra time to file, you may apply for an extension of time by filing a form 4868.

According to the form instructions, there are three ways to request an extension:

You can file Form 4868 electronically by accessing IRS e-file using your home computer or by using a tax professional who uses e-file.
You can pay all or part of your estimate of income tax due using a credit or debit card or by using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).
You can file a paper Form 4868.

Please note that in order to qualify, you must meet the following:

Properly estimate your 2012 tax liability using the information available to you,
Enter your total tax liability on line 4 of Form 4868, and
File Form 4868 by the regular due date of your return.

VERY IMPORTANT: Although you are not required to make a payment of the tax you estimate as due, Form 4868 does not extend the time to pay taxes. If you do not pay the amount due by the regular due date, you will owe interest. You may also be charged penalties.

Lastly, the Form 4868 extends your Federal income taxes only. Please check with your respective state for extension instructions. If you do not owe any California state taxes, filing the Form 4868 will automatically extend your filing due date of your California taxes. If you believe that you owe California taxes, then you would also have to file Form 3519.

Goodluck!

All information provided here are intended as a convenient source of tax information. This information is general in nature, is not complete, and may not apply to your specific situation. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding your tax needs.

Happy π Day!

2013-03-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Happy π Day!

Did you know that Albert Einstein was born on this mathematical day?

Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/techcrunch

π = 22/7 = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234603486104543266482133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209209628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094330572703657595919530921861173819326117931051185480744623799627495673518857527248912279381830119491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798609. . .

<3randomness <3tingtinging

Train Adventure

2013-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I recently went on a train adventure! It was an interesting 19 hour train ride. Fun experience, but I don't think I would do it again. (It's definitely faster, and in my case, cheaper to fly.)

We boarded the Amtrak here around 9:30PM Wednesday:

Amtrak Station at Jack London Square - Oakland, CA

I didn't take many photos of the train cabin, because the lighting was not that great. If you want to check out how it looks like, Amtrak has a pretty neat 3D virtual tour.

I would say that the sleeper cars are similar to airplanes since each car has an attendant and the toilet flushes the same way. In general, everything on the train is just a bit more spacious than on an airplane.

We woke up while passing by the snowy mountains.

More photos taken during the train ride... and experimenting with the manual mode of my DSLR.

I think this is one of my favorites

erie... is this train going to hogwarts?

I'm not sure what this was...

Thursday around 5PM, we arrived at Portland, OR.

Darn, it's not Hogwarts!!

<3tingtinging

Stonehenge... replica

2013-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

One of the results that came up when I was researching for places to visit in Portland was the Maryhill Museum of Art...

Too bad it was closed...

Luckily the main attraction we drove 100 miles east of Portland was this:

Stonehenge Replica

It's in the middle of no where and it's always open!

I had a blast snapping photos!

Can you tell what time of day this photo was taken based on the shadows casted by the concrete stones? :D

<3tingingting - wishing you a happy valentines day

Waterfalls

2013-02-11T20:28:00.002-08:00

I recently went on a train adventure to Portland. During the trip, we seek out to see the 137th tallest (per wikipedia) water fall in the United States.

Multnomah Falls

We also stopped by the Horsetail Falls...

It really does look like a horsetail!

Next time, I'll take to you see a Stonehenge replica in Washington. <3tingtinging

51k

2013-01-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

How is everyone's new year resolutions coming along? If filing your income tax returns on time is on your list, I have some information that could help some of you.

If your total gross income is less than $51,000 in the year 2012 and you live in the Bay Area, you may be eligible for free help in preparing your tax returns. Since service is on a first-come, first served basis, show up early! Click on the image below for locations and dates.

Please check out Tax-Aid's website for more information: http://www.tax-aid.org/

<3tingtinging

Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction

2013-01-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again... didn't we just file our taxes??

Good news for homeowners who pays mortgage insurance! The mortgage insurance tax deduction has been extended through December 31, 2013.

This is great news, because...

- Homeowners who are single or married filing jointly with adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less can deduct 100% of their qualified mortgage insurance premiums
- Taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) above $100,000 may qualify for partial deductions

Unfortunately, taxpayers with AGI over $109,000 are not be eligible for this deduction.

For more information, visit irs.gov.

Till next time! <3tingtinging

All information provided here are intended as a convenient source of tax information. This information is general in nature, is not complete, and may not apply to your specific situation. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding your tax needs.

the dreaded iron

2013-01-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

Part of my de-cluttering process involves ironing my pile of growing wrinkly clothes. To me and maybe some of you, ironing is difficult and time consuming. It's no wonder that dry cleaning places charge $1.50+/piece for ironing services.

To avoid ironing, I generally:

1) Hang up the clothes while they are still warm from the dryer, and if the items are still wrinkled...

2) Use a steamer

If the above still doesn't get out those stubborn wrinkles, I hang up the items in the "to be ironed" section of the closet. When the population of the wrinkled items gets out of hand, then out comes the...

IRON!!!

Since there are so many how-tos online, I decided to google to see if there are any easy way out in ironing. My search return was not what I was hoping for. But here are some ironing tips!

- Before diving right in and slave away ironing, check the tag to see if the piece can be ironed. I've learned this lesson even before I was allowed to touch an iron when my mother ironed and melted one of my favorite windbreaker jacket.

- Fill the iron with water (use distill water to avoid mineral buildup). The steam helps get the wrinkles out easier.

- Invest in an ironing board. Once as a child I ironed on the carpeted floor and the carpet melted...

- Flip the article of clothing inside out and iron the inside first. Then flip it right side out and iron the outside. If the material is delicate, you may only want to iron the inside.

- Hang or fold the garment immediately after ironing! You've spent way too much effort on it to start over.

And if ironing still doesn't get the wrinkles out, I would probably just donate it.

How are you guys doing on your new years resolution?

<3tingtinging

I would like to delicate this post to my parents, because they used to iron everything. Although they made me the weird kid with perfectly crisp wrinkle-free gym clothes, I really appreciate the effort they put into always making me presentable, most of the time.

happy holidays 2012

2012-12-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

donations. check.

tree. check.

Happy holidays everyone!

Year End Tax Tips

2012-12-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

Gosh another year flew by already. Instead of working on new years resolution, you might want to take this time to get some things wrapped up and get ready for 2013.

Are there items on your to do list that you've been avoiding to complete? Just do it. Sometimes it's more stressful having the tasks hanging on your shoulder. (three more hours of classes to go...) This leads me to my next item to be completed before year end:

If you itemize deductions on your income tax return, it's a great time to clean out the wardrobe and donate things you no longer wear or use to a qualified 503(c)(3) organization, such as Goodwill. For tax record keeping purposes, it's also good to get into the habit of making a list and note the condition of the items. Since digital cameras or cell phone cameras are so handy these days, I suggest taking photos of the items as well. Be sure to ask for a receipt for your records! Click here for more details about charitable contributions.

Once your itemized deductions are ready and projects wrapped up, don't forget to kick back, relax, have some hot coco, enjoy the cold weather and reunions with friends and family. <3t

***

All information provided here are intended as a convenient source of tax information. This information is general in nature, is not complete, and may not apply to your specific situation. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding your tax needs.