On 3rd of September 2021, Singapore announced to offer 3rd COVID-19 shots to senior citizens. Only one day after that, on 4th of September, I went to the vaccination centre to have my 2nd jab of the vaccine.

I took one week leave in the following week to have some rest. I felt tired and thus I slept as much as I could in the first three days after the vaccination. In order to maintain the body hydration level, I also drank about 2 liters of plain water per day. On top of that, since the weather in Singapore was extremely warm in September, starting from three days before my vaccination day, I also bought a cup of coconut water every day.

Fortunately, to me, there was no other major side effects from the vaccine. Hence, I spent my one-week leave to do many things that I didn't have the time to do in the normal working days.

Activity 1: Microsoft Virtual Training Day

There are many virtual training sessions available currently. The sessions are all offered by Microsoft for free. You can browse the available training sessions on the Training Days website.

On 6th of September, there was a session about Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fundamentals.

AI Fundamental virtual training session.

In the training session, we learnt about concepts such as, AI in Azure, common AI workloads, challenges and risks with AI, and principles of responsible AI.

After that, we learnt how to create predictive models by finding relationships in data using Machine Learning (ML). Using Azure ML Designer, we can visually create a ML pipeline in a drag-and-drop manner.

Creating a predictive pricing model with Azure ML Designer.

Finally, we also learnt how to use Azure Cognitive Services to analyse images, recognise faces, perform OCR.

Activity 2: Learning PyQt

I was asked by our Senior IT Architect to learn how to build a dashboard as a desktop application using Python before my leave. Hence, I also read the tutorials about PyQt5 during my leave.

Using the knowledge I learnt from Azure Virtual Training mentioned above, I built a sample PyQt desktop application to perform face detection in a photo. The source code of the application is currently available on my GitHub repo.

Detecting faces in a photo using the Face API in Azure Cognitive Services.

In this learning exercise, I also found out how to apply Material Design theme to a PyQt5 application using library such as Qt-Material. In addition, I also learnt how to draw charts using PyQtChart. For example, emotions of the faces detected in the screenshot above can be drawn as a chart shown in the following screenshot using the Face API.

One of the faces in the photo above looks a bit sad.

Activity 3: Playing Games

Besides coding, I also took some time to play computer games. Since the version 2.1 of Genshin Impact was released just few days before my leave, I got more time to clear the new story and have fun fishing with my friends as well.

Let's fish together!

One-Week Leave

Yup, that's all what I had done during my leave. Now, I am thinking how to clear the remaining annual leave I have brought over from the previous year.

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