Riz Sedek | Blogtag:www.rizsedek.com,2008-04-08://62010-03-05T09:39:57ZRiz Sedek | Blog | A Singaporean, living in Czech, being in love with historical European charm, and sharing them through old maps and prints on the WWW and Etsy.Movable Type 4.25London, Salisbury (Stonehenge), Bath Preparationtag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1682010-03-05T08:26:45Z2010-03-05T09:39:57ZThe idea to go to London was very impromptu. I was at the Women For Women International website, as I visit there sometimes. I knew about their Join Me On The Bridge event some while ago, but at that time I thought it's a little far for me to go.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
London was very impromptu. I was at the Women For Women International website, as I visit there sometimes. I knew about their Join Me On The Bridge event some while ago, but at that time I thought it's a little far for me to go.
This time though, when I was looking at it again, I thought, "Hmm, let's just see if it's a possible idea after all to go to London for the event."
So I went around searching for tickets. I tried planes (too expensive), trains (too many connections), and buses (aha!). Well that's cutting the story a little shorter because I still had to search for a bus, or coach however you wanna call it, that still has seats. Anyways, I was successful, so bus it is, a two-day journey.
The second part is that, at first I had thought of staying for maybe only three days in London. But if I were to go by bus, I would have to take a full week's leave anyway, because of the two-day journey back. So why not I just stay longer, from weekend to weekend. And since I am going to be there for the week, I don't want to spend the whole time in London. And so, I planned for Stonehenge where I'll stay in Salisbury, and then Bath. So there you go.
***
My tickets are booked, my stays are booked, except for the last night in London, which I haven't yet been successful. So I'll have to settle that today, and also the transport tickets to the two cities and back.
Just yesterday, the Lonely Planet: Europe on a Shoestring book that I ordered from Ebay came (nice timing!), and so I was telling my colleague about the trip showing it to her on the map in the book, and she said, "I want to go with you!" So I'll be settling her stays as well, adding on to my bookings.
I'm also packing some light meals and snacks, mainly for breakfast (for the hostels that does not have them) and supper, to cut down on spending on food and use the money to go to places and shopping (it is after all GBP we're talking about). I was going through the aisle of Tesco picking out the very light and very easy to make. Which means mainly soups and noodles that we can just empty into a cup and pour hot water over it.
So tonight I'm going to be packing my bag, and tomorrow afternoon I'll be on my journey. From where I live, I'll be taking the bus to Pardubice, taking the train to Prague, and then the bus from Prague to London.
***
Some useful links and notes while preparing for this trip:
Coaches to London www.studentagency.cz
The bus company I booked my tickets with. Czech company, but it has English as well. www.eurolines.com
Another good company that I only found out later after reading LP. Worth checking out next time I'm planning another trip. I've checked prices to London and they seem to be about the same.
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the synagogue's startag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1672010-02-28T18:03:17Z2010-02-28T18:06:09Zthe synagogue's star (pic)Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
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my five goals for 2010...tag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1662010-02-28T17:24:36Z2010-02-28T18:01:50ZSometime in January I made a list of five goals to accomplish this year. I kept it to five because it's a small enough number to not get overwhelm by trying to achieve too many things, yet is sufficient enough for me to think out and list the important things that I want to accomplish this year, as opposed to something that can wait another year or another. So briefly, here they are...Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.comHappy Springtime, Lovelies!
I do think new years should begin in March, when the grey days pass and make way for sunshine, new greens, a tingling freshness in the air, bursts of colorful flowers, and above all the feeling of being reborn.
Anyways. Sometime in January I made a list of five goals to accomplish this year. I kept it to five because it's a small enough number to not get overwhelm by trying to achieve too many things, yet is sufficient enough for me to think out and list the important things that I want to accomplish this year, as opposed to something that can wait another year or another. So briefly, here they are...
Goal #1. Build up my business on solid foundation.
At the time I was making my goals, I didn't know what would be a 'foundation', I just knew that I need to have it if I'm going to be serious about my business, treating it like a business and not merely a hobby (that has been my intention right from the beginning anyway). I got to know about Alexis Neely, who calls it LIFT Foundation. That's Legal, Insurance, Finance, and Tax. That's a genius name! It's funny how things align once you've set your intentions; you meet people, get help, advice, guidance, to steer you towards your goals.
Goal #2. Increase my personal annual income to at least $72, 000 (I'm counting in USD for easy reference here) and work full time on my business. I've only realized that it's again intention at play. I'm now in a business program with a business and life coach that I admire deeply, Christine Kane, and I'm starting to actually know the ways to make this happen.
Goal #3. Travel more. I love to travel, I love to explore. Last year was quite tumultuous for me (I'm not too comfortable with going into the details though), and I have kinda 'lost myself' in it. Well, some things happened as is inevitable, and this year is not only the year I move forward with my life, it is also the year that I heal. My travel plans for this year include the week-long trip to London and Salisbury next week (!!), another week-or-two-long trip to Paris, a short weekend trip to Vienna, and hopefully another short weekend trip to Copenhagen. It's so so easy to travel here!
Goal #4. Get my driving license. This is a long story, so let's just say that I'm in my late 20's and I still don't have a driving license. (I can drive though so I'm not that hopeless! :) ) So yes, this year will be the year when I can finally legally drive on my own.
Goal #5. Set up a savings account (done!) and save at least 5% of my income each month (doing!). I consider myself a student to money. Two years ago I was in a rut financially, and it took a lot of studying (mainly the practicalities on what to do with money) and soul searching (really knowing what my thoughts are about money). Now this has a side goal...
Goal #5.1. A gift for myself - a diamond ring. Two years ago I promised myself that I will not wear any other ring on my finger, until when I am able to give that gift to myself. The only exception I have for that is a wedding ring.
So, those are my goals for 2010. What about yours?
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the frozen laketag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1652010-02-22T10:12:28Z2010-02-22T10:51:16Zthe frozen lake (image)Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
So I have been playing around with my new old DSLR, the Nikon D80, trying to get used to using it. I received the camera body from the company I'm working with as a gift as they are replacing it with a newer one. For the lens, I am using an old one that I have back from when I was in art school, the AF Nikkor 28-100mm.
Now, I am stuck at focusing. So I'm gonna list down what I think it could be, and see if I can work out some solutions.
1. Could it be because of the lens? (Yeah, I know it's always easier to put the blame on something else. :) ) It is quite old, pretty much unused until now, bought it for a film SLR (incompatible with DSLR?), so could the AF gone out of whack? Solution.. buy a new lens?
2. Ok sometimes it does focus, but I have to find the right combo with the zoom. For e.g. if I go to the fullest at 100mm, it refuses to focus. Is this normal? Solution.. figure out the zoom+focus with this lens?
3. There could also be camera shake due to slow shutter speeds as I have noticed on some of the photos that I have taken. So focus itself might have been well otherwise. So, solution.. figure out the shutter speed, with respect to aperture, light, and ISO setting.
What's your opinion on this? Which one would be the most likely reason and the solution that I should take?
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obstacles and blessingstag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1642010-02-18T10:19:02Z2010-02-18T12:36:57ZThird week's challenge is to write about an obstacle that I overcame, and I have been putting it off for a while.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
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just a camera and a destinationtag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1582010-01-31T14:58:07Z2010-01-31T16:24:27ZI've been scratching my head with this week's topic, "First stage of a new product." I do two things which falls under 'product' - publish a magazine (the more serious of the two) and photography (in a more hobby-amateur-ish scale, which I then offer prints of on Etsy).Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
publish a magazine (the more serious of the two) and photography (in a more hobby-amateur-ish scale, which I then offer prints of on Etsy). So how do I show the first stage of either of those, and which one? Both involves work on the computer pretty much until they go to print, and showing screenshots of my processes isn't that much fun to look at, darling. :)
Then somehow the stars align. (Don't they always? :) ) The sun came out on Saturday, Jirka had already made plans for flying with the boys, and it struck me that the first stage of photography is to actually take the photo... (duh!)
So that's what I did. I took the train to Prague, beautiful city (if you've watched The Illusionist, you'll see why). I'm showing you only some of the pictures, and pretty much as they are, with only straightening and minor light adjustments. I'm at the beginning of my photography career, so be nice. :)
One thing about travel photography is that what's in your own backyard may be someone else's dream destination. I've been in Czech for a year now and have only been to Prague for two days, on two separate occasions. I've also wanted to go and see several of the other major European cities like Paris, Rome, Vienna, Madrid.. Though I've been to camp in Italy and Slovenia, doing cities is definitely a different experience ya know, and I think it would be a shame if I do not get my butt to these places when they are just a short and relatively inexpensive plane or train ride away.
So, one minor goal I have for this year is to go to at least one of the major cities (in warmer nicer weather, of course). Maybe I'll start with Vienna 'cos it's near. Nothing extravagant, just go, enjoy the experience, and bring home many, many photographs of the place.
What about you? Where would be your dream destination and if you've already been there, what was the experience like?
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Actiontag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1552010-01-22T17:41:17Z2010-01-22T17:45:38ZI have spent the last two years learning. After all these information that I have absorbed, and the trials and errors made, I feel that it is now time that I step up and play a bigger game. No more second-guessing myself, my abilities or my intentions. As it dawned on me that this is the new year of a new decade, I thought that the timing just couldn't have been more perfect. Where do I see myself at 10 years from now? After a reflection, I have chosen my word mantra for this year, to get my gears started and going. That word is ACTION. To take action in the parts of my life that will propel me to be where I see myself at 10 years from now.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
ACTION. To take action in the parts of my life that will propel me to be where I see myself at 10 years from now.
I want to have a family and live in a beautiful and loving home. To be working on Styl full time, having built it up to the mini empire it has the potential to become. To have the freedom of time and the energy to play and create, explore and experience.
So, this blog will serve as a journal where I will share some of what will come out of taking action, particularly in the areas of my business and my craft. As I tweeted earlier, I was just reading 52 Weeks Of Blogging Your Passion by Tara Gentile, and it will be a great accompaniment to the year ahead. I hope that these stories may also be an inspiration to you in your own quest to reach your goals. I also hope to share with my customers the person and processes behind the craft.
To start off, these are three key things I have started taking action for:
1. Preparing for self-employment. I've already read and understood what I need to give the bureau and printed out the necessary papers. Now I have to understand what's written on the form, fill it out, and get the other necessary documents ready. They say it's a tedious and lengthy process here in Czech. Well, I'll just see it as something that's necessary that I have to go through. I hope by June I'd be all set. In the meantime, I'm saving the cash to see me through at least 3 months of not having a steady income. What I'm really looking forward to is to finally have the time to give full focus on my business. I'm sure that my clients and customers will be happier too, that I will be able to fully serve my purpose.
2. To have balance between food and exercise. Growing up I hated Phys Ed. I credit my ability to stay in shape over the last 12 years to a well-balanced Asian food diet and youth. Now that I live in a country where big-portioned fat-laden food are the norm, and I am none the younger, my body has taken a toll. I'm dealing with this in two ways. First is consciously knowing what goes into my body. Second is to step up on the exercise. I'm beginning to like it too.
3. Keeping good home. I'm living in rented rooms at the moment with housemates, not really the arrangement that I'd like to be in. I wanted to at least have an apartment of our own. But when I come to think of it, my dwelling is home after all, and Jirka is family. Sometimes all it needs is a simple mindset change.
I will finish this off with a quote. I can't remember where I heard it from, but here it is..
"To start you don't have to be good, but to be good you have to start."
So, start. Take action.
xox, Riz
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Snih, Snihtag:www.rizsedek.com,2010://6.1542010-01-15T20:18:31Z2010-01-16T19:22:16ZAs a kid, I used to wonder how it's like behind the freezer doors when it closed in on you. Well I got my answers now.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
Last weekend it was snowing continuously, with snowfall of about 50cm here in Pardubice. My colleague said that it has never snowed this much in the last 10 years since she's lived here. '09 has been rather odd though. It was cold and rainy in summer, and there was a day or two when the snow fell in October. So I am not too surprised of the current conditions.
Well, I like the snow, as long as it's still snow. Now the temperature is just about 0°C, the snow is melting and freezing again, turning into ice. That's when walking gets tricky.
Well I went out to take some photos anyway, just to let you see. (And to test out my new DSLR. :)) Snow is pretty when viewed in a photograph, in the comfort of a warm couch. Being out there while I was taking these pics was a slightly different story. :)
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Italians vs Europeanstag:www.rizsedek.com,2009://6.1502009-11-18T09:00:22Z2009-11-18T09:04:07ZThis will surely have you cracking up! :)Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
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Travelways no.2tag:www.rizsedek.com,2009://6.1492009-11-06T10:59:19Z2009-11-06T11:03:54ZTravelways no.2Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com Travelways no.2Buy this print on Etsy
Photograph taken on January 6, 2008, 2:38 pm, on a long boardwalk from a little island in a lake, nearby the city of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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Mushroom no.1tag:www.rizsedek.com,2009://6.1462009-11-04T08:43:34Z2009-11-06T10:58:28ZI was taking a walk, alone, by the mountains near where we camped. There were lots of mushrooms, mostly portobellos and puffballs, the very few that I recognized. We had already picked some for dinner the day before, and they were good.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com Mushroom no.1Buy this print on Etsy
Photograph taken on July 9, 2009, 3:05 pm, in the mountains surrounding Castelluccio, South of Italy.
I was taking a walk, alone, by the mountains near where we camped. There were lots of mushrooms, mostly portobellos and puffballs, the very few that I recognized. We had already picked some for dinner the day before, and they were good.
As I walked, my eyes were still keenly scanning the ground. I did not find much though, and after a while, I thought I would just go back. Then.. well hello, what have we here? A huge.. I mean huh-yoooge mushroom was there right in front of me.
I could not recognize it though. I did not know if it was good or bad. I bent down to smell it, it has a deliciousy smell, but... I don't know. I couldn't call my boyfriend to ask him because he's up there flying. I contemplated picking it.. but I have been told to leave them alone if I don't know if they are the good ones. So I did the next best thing... I took some pictures of it. And I took note of its location relative to some bushes. Well at least I tried.
Back at camp, I showed the pictures to my boyfriend. The first thing he said was, "This is a good one! It's the one that we had (that other time) before..."
Damn! I must go back for it! And that's exactly just what I did. I took the bicycle to get there faster. I searched, for perhaps an hour, but I couldn't find it. (And I learned that triangulating bushes is not a good idea. They all look the same.) I ended up checking every bush in the area. I went back to camp empty-handed and disappointed. :(
Well, the photograph looks great though, don't you think? So I guess that's reason enough to celebrate. :)
Side note: The mushroom is called bedla vysoka in Czech (or bedla jedla as Czechs would sometimes refer to it). In English it's called 'Shaggy Parasol Mushroom' and the Latin name for it is 'Lepiota rhacodes'. And its goooood!
The next day, one of the guys we were with found another bedla that's just as huge, and he let me have it. It's like getting a really big delicious smelling flower. This girl is happy. :)
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Napping (and Reading) Nookstag:www.rizsedek.com,2009://6.1312009-09-09T20:36:28Z2009-09-10T07:53:58ZI have been looking out for inspirational interiors, making small notes of those that I like, when I got the idea of collecting and compiling them into sort of like a mood-book. Something like a mood board, with more pages. While Jirka is now more concerned with the building of the house, I thought this could be a fun project to do on the side, and when the time comes for us to think of what goes on on the inside, we'd have the compilation to refer to for ideas.Riz Sedekhttp://www.rizsedek.com
A few weeks back I blogged about pristine white interiors; I shall put those in to start the project off. Here is another inspiration...
Aren't they just comfy?? You can find a lot more of these napping nooks on desiretoinspire.net; I've only picked out the ones that I really liked. I am more drawn towards those that has a window at the back, letting the sunlight in. Since living in Czech, I have come to love and appreciate the sun. I also like the ones that has shelving, where I can shelf books and magazines near enough to grab on a whim and start reading.
It's a great place to retreat, don't you think? Wouldn't you want these in your home too?
book that I ordered from Ebay came (nice timing!), and so I was telling my colleague about the trip showing it to her on the map in the book, and she said, "I want to go with you!" So I'll be settling her stays as well, adding on to my bookings.
